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ABOUT CULTURE - 01.2009
Domingo sings the words of the Pope
Here is a real treat for fans of the Polish pope’s talent. One of the most famous tenors alive today, Placido Domingo, has recorded an album of songs to poems by Karol Wojtyła. On the 28th of November, the album „Infinite Love,” was presented at a press conference which was organized at the Vatican. It contains twelve works written by the Polish pope, who Placido Domingo greatly admired. It is worth mentioning that Domingo invited another famous operatic voice; one of the songs is sung with Andrea Bocelli. We also hear the artist’s son, Placido Domingo Junior. John Paul II was an artist with many talents. Before he became pope, Karol Wojtyła had played in the theater and written works; he was also the author of a few volumes of poetry and verse, among them „Renesansowy psałterz” and „Song of the Hidden God”. As Pope he published „Roman Triptych” in 2003. Four years earlier, an album had been recorded, called „Abba Pater”, with his words put to music composed by Leonardo de Amicis and Stefano Mainet.
Treatures of Parisian “Kultura”
The National Library in Warsaw and the General Directors of the State Archives are carrying out a full inventory and conservation of its priceless collection from the Instytut Literacki „Kultura” („Culture” Literary Institute) in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris. A publication called Inwentarz Archiwum Instytutu Literackiego „Kultura” will be created as part of the project, giving full information about the Institute’s collections; as well, the conditions for the storage and conservation of the archives will be established. Their accessibility will be facilitated by a computer database. The Archive will contain sources that document the activities of the Institute, as well as the lives of Polish political émigrés in the post-war period. Among them, there are files belonging to the creator of „Kultura,” Jerzy Giedroyc, and fragments left by brilliant Polish writers, such as Witold Gombrowicz, Konstanty Jeleński, Juliusz Mieroszewski, and Jerzy Stempowski. There is also a collection of archival photographs of the Polish army in the west, as well as audiovisual and audio documentation. The Literary Institute was established by Jerzy Giedroyc in 1946, in Rome. In 1947, the first issue of the magazine „Kultura” was published. That same year, the Institute and editorial staff moved to Maisons-Laffitte near Paris. In the post-war period, when Poland came under communist rule, the Institute became one of the most important Polish centers of free political and literary thought. Texts which were forbidden by communist authorities were printed there. The Institute was also one of the first publishers in the world to print A. Solzhenitsyn’s famous book „Gulag Archipelago”.
Breugel on the screen
The famous Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, who has been working in Hollywood for many years, came to Poland to take part in a film by the Polish director Lech Majewski, „The Mill and the Cross,” which was inspired by Peter Brueghel’s painting „Way to Calvary”. Hauer played the role of the famous painter; he was accompanied by Charlotte Rampling and Michael York. Hauer praised the Polish director, the film crew and his time in our country, which he had already visited a number of years before, when he „was significantly younger than today”. Hauer emphasized that Poles know how to cooperate in order to help each other out.
The shocking testament of an artist
This is something unheard of! Although Andrzej Czajkowski, a Polish pianist who is well known in the British Isles, died more than 25 years ago, he is only now able to „play” onstage in Stratford. How is that possible? According to the last will of the deceased musician, his skull became a theater prop and is used by the Royal Shakespearean Theater Group. When he was dying of cancer, the musician wrote a shocking last will and testament. He donated all of his organs to science, with the exception of his skull. Andrzej Czajkowski left it to the Royal Shakespearean Group. The artist made it clear, however, that it is only to be used in the famous scene from „Hamlet.”
A man of many biographies
A very interesting book by Samuel Blumenfeld, „L’homme qui voulait être prince,” has come out in Poland and America recently. It is an unusual biography, of the unusual Polish film director Michał Waszyński (1904-1965), who had an international career and became one of the most popular filmmakers in Hollywood. His real name was Mosze Waks and he came from a family of Polish Jews. As an adult, he changed his name and converted to Catholicism. He was a talented director, screenwriter and producer, as well as a... mythomaniac, who constantly recreated his own image and thought up new biographies for himself. In pre-war Poland, he directed many very popular films, and was just as successful in Hollywood, with films like „Quo Vadis”, and „Roman Holiday”. He also worked on famous films such as „The Fall of the Roman Empire” with Sophia Loren and „Sid” with Charlton Heston. Many film scripts could be written based on Waszyński’s colorful life. In the photo, (from the left): James Mason, Sophia Loren and Michał Waszyński.
The birthday of a great artist
„I have always been free, and have always done and got what I wanted wherever I wanted,” says Mikołaj Henryk Górecki, one of the greatest Polish composers, who by the end of the 20th century had also become one of the most revered artists in the world. Mikołaj Henryk Górecki is celebrating his 75th birthday. His Third Symphony, the „Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” has become a worldwide hit, in both the classical music category and in …pop. When it was recorded by London Sinonietta directed by David Zinman and sung by Dawn Upshaw (soprano), it was acknowledged as the most prominent „new age” composition. It sold millions of copies, much to the amazement of the composer himself, who composed the symphony more than 30 years ago. He is still active and filled with artistic inspiration; we wish him many more years like that.
Here is a real treat for fans of the Polish pope’s talent. One of the most famous tenors alive today, Placido Domingo, has recorded an album of songs to poems by Karol Wojtyła. On the 28th of November, the album „Infinite Love,” was presented at a press conference which was organized at the Vatican. It contains twelve works written by the Polish pope, who Placido Domingo greatly admired. It is worth mentioning that Domingo invited another famous operatic voice; one of the songs is sung with Andrea Bocelli. We also hear the artist’s son, Placido Domingo Junior. John Paul II was an artist with many talents. Before he became pope, Karol Wojtyła had played in the theater and written works; he was also the author of a few volumes of poetry and verse, among them „Renesansowy psałterz” and „Song of the Hidden God”. As Pope he published „Roman Triptych” in 2003. Four years earlier, an album had been recorded, called „Abba Pater”, with his words put to music composed by Leonardo de Amicis and Stefano Mainet.
Treatures of Parisian “Kultura”
The National Library in Warsaw and the General Directors of the State Archives are carrying out a full inventory and conservation of its priceless collection from the Instytut Literacki „Kultura” („Culture” Literary Institute) in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris. A publication called Inwentarz Archiwum Instytutu Literackiego „Kultura” will be created as part of the project, giving full information about the Institute’s collections; as well, the conditions for the storage and conservation of the archives will be established. Their accessibility will be facilitated by a computer database. The Archive will contain sources that document the activities of the Institute, as well as the lives of Polish political émigrés in the post-war period. Among them, there are files belonging to the creator of „Kultura,” Jerzy Giedroyc, and fragments left by brilliant Polish writers, such as Witold Gombrowicz, Konstanty Jeleński, Juliusz Mieroszewski, and Jerzy Stempowski. There is also a collection of archival photographs of the Polish army in the west, as well as audiovisual and audio documentation. The Literary Institute was established by Jerzy Giedroyc in 1946, in Rome. In 1947, the first issue of the magazine „Kultura” was published. That same year, the Institute and editorial staff moved to Maisons-Laffitte near Paris. In the post-war period, when Poland came under communist rule, the Institute became one of the most important Polish centers of free political and literary thought. Texts which were forbidden by communist authorities were printed there. The Institute was also one of the first publishers in the world to print A. Solzhenitsyn’s famous book „Gulag Archipelago”.
Breugel on the screen
The famous Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, who has been working in Hollywood for many years, came to Poland to take part in a film by the Polish director Lech Majewski, „The Mill and the Cross,” which was inspired by Peter Brueghel’s painting „Way to Calvary”. Hauer played the role of the famous painter; he was accompanied by Charlotte Rampling and Michael York. Hauer praised the Polish director, the film crew and his time in our country, which he had already visited a number of years before, when he „was significantly younger than today”. Hauer emphasized that Poles know how to cooperate in order to help each other out.
The shocking testament of an artist
This is something unheard of! Although Andrzej Czajkowski, a Polish pianist who is well known in the British Isles, died more than 25 years ago, he is only now able to „play” onstage in Stratford. How is that possible? According to the last will of the deceased musician, his skull became a theater prop and is used by the Royal Shakespearean Theater Group. When he was dying of cancer, the musician wrote a shocking last will and testament. He donated all of his organs to science, with the exception of his skull. Andrzej Czajkowski left it to the Royal Shakespearean Group. The artist made it clear, however, that it is only to be used in the famous scene from „Hamlet.”
A man of many biographies
A very interesting book by Samuel Blumenfeld, „L’homme qui voulait être prince,” has come out in Poland and America recently. It is an unusual biography, of the unusual Polish film director Michał Waszyński (1904-1965), who had an international career and became one of the most popular filmmakers in Hollywood. His real name was Mosze Waks and he came from a family of Polish Jews. As an adult, he changed his name and converted to Catholicism. He was a talented director, screenwriter and producer, as well as a... mythomaniac, who constantly recreated his own image and thought up new biographies for himself. In pre-war Poland, he directed many very popular films, and was just as successful in Hollywood, with films like „Quo Vadis”, and „Roman Holiday”. He also worked on famous films such as „The Fall of the Roman Empire” with Sophia Loren and „Sid” with Charlton Heston. Many film scripts could be written based on Waszyński’s colorful life. In the photo, (from the left): James Mason, Sophia Loren and Michał Waszyński.
The birthday of a great artist
„I have always been free, and have always done and got what I wanted wherever I wanted,” says Mikołaj Henryk Górecki, one of the greatest Polish composers, who by the end of the 20th century had also become one of the most revered artists in the world. Mikołaj Henryk Górecki is celebrating his 75th birthday. His Third Symphony, the „Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” has become a worldwide hit, in both the classical music category and in …pop. When it was recorded by London Sinonietta directed by David Zinman and sung by Dawn Upshaw (soprano), it was acknowledged as the most prominent „new age” composition. It sold millions of copies, much to the amazement of the composer himself, who composed the symphony more than 30 years ago. He is still active and filled with artistic inspiration; we wish him many more years like that.
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Information published at 18 January 2009