Book of Angels and People show (PHOTOS and VIDEO)

In 2004, Wroclaw celebrated Poland's accession to the European Union with a show entitled "Europe's Angels". Yesterday, on 30 April, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Poland's membership in the Community, the "Book of Angels and People" concert was performed at Plac Gołębi. The interpreters of this unique concert were cheered by nearly 25 thousand spectators.

The concert will be broadcast on Channel 2 on Friday, the 2nd of May, at 10.10 PM, and a day later in the Wroclaw Television Station at 6.50 PM.

See a video from the concert

Like a decade ago, the narrator was Maciej Stuhr, one of the masters of the Polish language, who welcomed everybody by saying the meaningful: "Ladies and gentlemen, we made it!" and then, for over an hour and a half, in his poetic voice, he guided the spectators through the greatest values and achievements of the European civilization, as he announced the performances of succeeding artists who took the roles of angels: Book, Passion, Beauty, Holiday, Care, Balance, Love, Freedom, Truth, Dialogue, Tolerance, Peace, and Independence.

Each piece played and sung that evening at the Town Square made a reference to the words of outstanding European and global figures, mostly those who greatly contributed to the success of Wroclaw and the city's honorary citizens, to include Władysław Bartoszewski, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Jerzy Grotowski, Tadeusz Różewicz, Norman Davies, Lech Wałęsa, and St. John Paul II. Their images were displayed in the spacious scenography whose leitmotif was paintings of Renaissance painter Sandro Boticelli, with images from Wroclaw integrated in them. Thanks to the technology used, they appeared to be three-dimensional. The project was implemented by Giorgos Stylianou, for the first time in Poland.

Important words, great voices

After Łukasz Zagrobelny, Maciej Balcar, and Mateusz Ziółko made an outstanding performance of the song entitled "This Land", one could expect even more great performances. Indeed, the audience was not spared any. The beautiful and important lyrics, written specially for this show by Roman Kołakowski, were sung skilfully by other artists. The most beautiful and impressive performances were the ones by Małgorzata Walewska (to Johann Sebastian Bach's music), Natalia Sikora and Mateusz Ziółko ("Carmina Burana"), Kayah (Chopin's E-Major Etiude), Krzysztof and Piotr Cugowski (Haendel's "Sarabanda"), and Justyna Steczkowska (an interpretation of Ravel's "Bolero" with an exemplary vocalise). The audience also liked the performance by Agata Klimczak and Roman Kołakowski who sang "My Thoughts" with the lyrics by Taras Shevchenko - a song dedicated to the Ukrainian people by Wroclaw's mayor. (The names of the remaining artists can be found here). Rafał Dutkiewicz, who could not attend the concert, sent (through Maciej Stuhr) to all the spectators his greetings and thanks for the participation in this special event.

The finale of the concert, performed by all the artists, was Europe's anthem: the final cantata of Beethoven's Symphony no. 9, "Ode to Joy". That performance moved everyone attending the "Book of Angels and People" concert in a special way. A similar concert, which may be held in Wroclaw's centre in 10 years, will be attended the present and future generations of Europeans. Anyway, Maciej Stuhr declared that he was ready for such a reunion...

The concert, which was also a symbolic start of the countdown to the start of the European Capital of Culture 2016 in Wroclaw, was recorded by the Polish Television and can be watched on Channel 2 on the 2nd of May. We encourage you to watch it, especially if you haven't seen the event live. You can also see photos from the concert on our website.

Małgorzata Wieliczko