28 November 2012 The Christmas concert
Next week (the 5th of December), you will experience a truly Christmas atmosphere in the Franciskan Basilica in Krakow. The best Polish artists, including: Katarzyna Nosowska, Monika Brodka, Waglewski and Pospieszalski musical families, Tomasz Stańko and the band Ballady i Romanse will present new, prepared especially for this evening – arrangements of the most beautiful Polish Christmas carols and Christmas songs. The musical feast in the Franciskan Basilica will start at 8:30 p.m., and viewers across Poland will be able to see the event on Christmas Eve on 2 TVP at 4.45 p.m. Tickets to this extraordinary concert are available for purchase from today, at three InfoKraków points: at ul. św. Jana 2, at the Wyspiański Pavilion (pl. Wszystkich Świętych 2) and at the Tourist Services Centre (ul. Powiśle 11). The ticket price is PLN 80.
This is the second edition of the concert entitled Kolęda Nova, prepared by the Krakow Festival Office and 2 TVP – It is gradually becoming a tradition that the greatest music stars meet in Krakow before Christmas to sing Christmas carols together – says Izabela Helbin, director of the Krakow Festival Office. – We are especially delighted that viewers across Poland can see the result of the meeting of artists representing different kinds of music. On a day as important as Christmas's Eve.
The concert program was compiled in cooperation with Piotr Metz, one of the best-known Polish music journalists. In the program, the most beautiful Polish Christmas carols neighbor well-known compositions dominating radio stations all over the world in this pre-Christmas period, including compositions by Judy Garland, John Lennon or Nat King Cole.
The concert will be opened by Tomasz Stańko who will sign the Jezus Malusieńki Christmas carol. Stańko will be followed by Monika Brodka performing Jeremi Przybora and Jerzy Wasowski’s song Na całej połaci śnieg. Mizerna Cicha and Gdy śliczna Panna – these compositions will be performed during this extraordinary evening by the band Ballady i Romanse. American singer Rykarda Parasol will sing Judy Garland’s song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas from the musical Meet Me in St. Louis, and the song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – made as a protest song against the Vietnam war, considered a Christmas classic.
Łukasz and Iza Lach will present Oh holy night by Nat King Cole and Piosenka o dziewczynce z zapałkami by Artur Rojek. Skubas will perform Szara Kolęda, prepared especially for a Krakow concert Pastorałka.
Katarzyna Nosowska will present Kolęda dla nieobecnych by Zbigniew Preisner; Trebunie Tutki and Twinkle Brothers – highlander's carol W dusak and a composition Glory. Waglewski family (the father, Fisz & Emade) will perform the song Dwa po dwa, and Pospieszalski family – a composition Tak niedaleko do Betlejem. In the grand finale, we will hear Fryderyk Chopin’s Polonez A-dur that will segue into one of the most beautiful and moving Polish Christmas carols Bóg się rodzi or Pieśń o Narodzeniu Pańskim with the participation of all the artists taking part in the concert.
The organizers of the concert Kolęda Nova include: The Krakow Festival Office, the National Culural Centre and 2 TVP.
