ABOUT CULTURE - 07.2010

Music Gardens in the Royal Castle
The central theme of this year’s edition of the Music Gardens Festival (Ogrody Muzyczne) is Frederic Chopin. In this way, the festival will be involved in the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Motifs related to Chopin will be included in the film program and in concerts. Within the festival, several documentaries on Frederic Chopin’s life will be presented (e.g. Chopin’s Heart (Serce Chopina) by Piotr Szalsza and the premiere of the Arte production L’art de Chopin), as well as recordings of film and television recitals by virtuosos of the piano (e.g. Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Krystian Zimmerman). During the concerts, we will listen to contemporary pianists from Japan, Spain, the United States of America, France and the Netherlands performing works by 20th-century composers and contemporary ones who continue the tradition of Chopin’s music techniques (the Monday series entitled The Piano @ 200). The Sunday cycle entitled Chopin Afternoons will, in turn, present Polish candidates for the 16th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition. There will also be some unique events, such as, for example, Sunspots. El Derwid, or the songs by Witold Lutosławski, a recital by British pianist Joanna MacGregor, a concert of Camerata Silesia group conducted by Anna Szostak presenting vocal arrangements of Chopin’s compositions, as well as two new works by Zygmunt Krauze and Régis Campo, inspired with the Polish composer. On the last day of the festival, there will be a concert by Sergey Kasprov, a young Russian pianist, whose recital will include works by, for instance, Domenic Scarlatti, Alexander Skriabin and Frederic Chopin. Moreover, at the festival there will be films presenting music and culture of Belgium, which on the 1st of July starts the presidency over the European Union. The program of the inaugural concert related to the International Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Belgium includes, among others, works by César Franck, Grażyna Bacewicz and Michał Spisak. The Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra will be conducted by Robert Groslot, and Joanna Kurkowicz will be the soloist to perform Violin Concerto No. 7 by Grażyna Bacewicz. The concerts will be organized from the 1st to the 31st of July in the courtyard of the Royal Castle (Zamek Królewski) in Warsaw.

The controversies surrounding a museum
A Museum of Contemporary Art will be built in Warsaw. It will be in a modern building of interesting construction which is appropriate to what it will hold, and it will stand in the very heart of the city, at the corner of two busy streets – Marszałkowska and Świętokrzyska. The winning design, the work of the Swiss architect Christian Kerez, has aroused numerous discussions and even protests. Some are of the opinion that the future museum resembles typical hypermarket buildings. However, the Warsaw city authorities have upheld the decision of the international jury who chose to give Kerez first prize. He himself decided to add a few improvements to his design. Will Varsovians like it? In the photo, the interior of the future Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw.

Capitol Theater Recommends
The atmosphere in the Capitol Theater (Teatr Capitol) will be very hot this summer. The theater invites to its performances in July and in August.
Everybody can find something interesting here. All About Women (Wszystko o kobietach) presents an interesting study of the woman’s nature. This comedy written by Miro Gavran has got, however, its counterpoint – a story about sisters at variance, who have not spoken for years, but finally meet and make up, which proves their real maturity. The Odd Couple (Dziwna para) is a legendary Broadway hit by the most frequently staged American comedy writer Neil Simon. Every week, the title odd couple plays poker and… has a lot of fun, and the audience with them. Climacteric… And That’s That (Klimakterium… i już) by Elżbieta Jodłowska is a performance in which four excellent actresses, four „menopausal tigresses” speak and sing on this difficult period of life which every woman must experience. Menopausal Madness, or Having Fun with Climacteric (Menopauzy szał, czyli zabawa z Klimakterium) is a new proposal of the Capital Theater. The well known heroines in a new instalment, witty dialogues and numerous surprises.

Nick Nolte in a Polish film
The famous American actor Nick Nolte will play the lead role in a new film by the Polish director Krzysztof Krauze, who is well known for films like „Dług” and „Plac Zbawiciela”, among others. Nolte will appear in the movie „Ptaki śpiewajà w Kigali” („Birds sing in Kigala”). It is the story of an ornithologist who saved a girl from the Tutsi tribe in 1994, at the times of ethnic cleansing in Rwanda. The screenplay is based on a novel by Wojciech Albiński, a Polish writer who lives in South Africa. The actor is all the more interested in the role because he also acted in the film „Hotel Rwanda”. Preparations for the film will begin in the fall.

Wezyr Merefnebef in Warsaw
In 1998, a team of Polish archeologists under the direction of Professor Karol Myśliwiec from Warsaw discovered the tomb Merefnebef in Egypt, which is more than 4,200 years old, from the times of the Old Kingdom. The lid of the sarcophagus had been left slightly opened; the bones of the mummy were in disarray, which means that grave robbers had already stolen the original gold and robes. Since tourists do not have access to the tomb, Polish archeologists decided to create a life-sized replica of it, made out of a material similar to egyptian limestone. The design has already been made by an engineer from Poznań, Daria Tarara. The chapel will be 9 meters long, and 4 meters in height and width. The model will be shown at museums in Poland and abroad, and its permanent home will be the National Museum in Warsaw.

The charm of three-dimensional photography
In the middle of our city, at 51 Jerozolimskie Avenie, in the courtyard, there is a unique historical relic – a stereoscope. It is more than one hundred years old. It once played the role that films and television play today, and presented three dimensional photographs with various themes. It was very popular because it took people away to another world. Today, it is just a memento of bygone days. With time, the stereoscope started to fall apart because there was not enough money to maintain it and conserve it. Recently, a decision was made to rent the stereoscope from its private owner to the Warsaw Rising Museum, which will promote the stereoscope and its attractive program. The building where the stereoscope is located will be renovated, and the courtyard leading to it will also be rearranged. Additional space for cultural events, displays, meetings and lectures will be set up by the stereoscope.