The concerts are a key event in the Polish
capital's summer cultural calendar, with performers serenading
citizens in the elegant setting of the Royal Lazienki Park with
concertos, nocturnes and other masterworks by the great romantic
composer.
But for the first time in more than six decades, the green
square dotted with benches near a statue of Chopin had only
pre-recorded music pouring from loud speakers on Sunday, when
according to tradition the first outdoor concert of the season
had been due to start.
Chopin fans who didn't come to the park could also go onto
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg-DoK40oko&feature=youtu.be)
to hear the first concert, featuring Polish pianist Karol
Radziwonowicz, which had been pre-recorded in the park's
Orangery.
The decision to livestream the concerts, a result of the
restrictions on public gatherings, was unsettling, said Andrzej
Matusiak, director of Stoleczna Estrada, the group that
organizes the annual event.
"The concerts we recorded happened without the public. It was
weird, it was surprising, for us and for the pianists. They were
playing and there was no audience, no applause at the end," said
Matusiak.
REVERED COMPOSER
The Sunday outdoor concerts began in 1959 in honour of a
composer whose music is deeply tied up with Polish national
identity. The Chopin statue, erected in 1926, was blown up by
the Nazis in 1940 during their brutal occupation of Poland and
its reconstruction was a reaffirmation of national pride.
"(The statue) is something sacred for us, it is our (national)
treasure," said Teresa Poniemierska, a regular frequenter of the
open air concerts who was out for a stroll in the park on
Sunday.
She welcomed the decision to livestream the concerts in view of
the current lockdown restrictions, saying they would give Chopin
music lovers "some satisfaction".
"No one can imagine that, after 60 years, we won't have Chopin's
music in Warsaw in May," Matusiak said.
The open-air concerts run from May till September. It remains
unclear when Warsaw will lift its ban on public gatherings,
though Matusiak said he hoped it would be before September to
allow the resumption of the concerts in the park.
Poland, a nation of 38 million people, has so far reported
18,394 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 919 deaths.
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska and Kacper Pempel; Editing by
Gareth Jones)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|