Recitar cantando, the intriguing title of the 52nd Andrzej Markowski International Festival Wratislavia Cantans is meant to symbolize a certain extension to the programme formula. Since time immemorial, ‘declamation and singing’ have lived in a symbiosis, specific not only for the musical culture of the West. The relationship between what is spoken, declamated, recited and what is sung – in the context of European early modern period and perhaps even modernity – lines out a, a musical territory that has been a terra incognita for Wratislavia Cantans until this year: the opera.

Trig points

The programme framework of the 52nd Festival is extremely broad and can be determined in various ways. Its key elements, certain ‘trig points’ of the programme, seem to be the following: the 450th anniversary of Claudio Monteverdi’s birth and the 250th anniversary of Georg Philipp Telemann’s death, the 500th celebration of the beginning of the Reformation, with the staffage of musical diversities and cross-references that occur in culture and art. Take the evolution of a significant medieval sequence (Stabat Mater) versus a twentieth-century reflection on the ultimate truths of faith, or romanticism with its fantastic spirituality. Finally, a conflict that the arts have been trying to solve forever and without clear success: the confrontation between rationalism and emotionalism. This seems to be the spine, the core of the festival with many smaller but no less important topics pursued on the side.

Wrocław will see many renowned artists. The festival will be inaugurated by one of the greatest conductors of our time. The expert and master in baroque music interpretation, Sir John Eliot Gardiner returns with his ensembles, recognized and loved by the local audience. For the finale: a debut by the young conductor of Russian-Greek roots, Teodor Currentzis and his vocal-instrumental ensemble MusicAeterna. We will host a great cast of performers and ensembles playing historical instruments: Accademia Bizantina directed by Ottavio Dantone, La Fenice with Jean Tubéry, Il Suonar Parlante and Concordu de Orosei groups under the artistic direction of gambist Vittorio Ghielmi, Le Concert Spirituel with Hervé Niquet, Vocalconsort Berlin conducted by Daniel Reuss and finally – last but not least – Il Giardino Armonico. During the festival we will also obviously get a chance to hear the ensembles of the National Forum of Music: NFM Wrocław Philharmonic (with guest conductor, Marzena Diakun), Wrocław Baroque Orchestra (performing under the baton of Andrzej Kosendiak), NFM choirs. No festival could do without soloists. In September in Wrocław we will be able to admire a truly extraordinary group of singers: Tomáš Král, Karina Gauvin, Hana Blažiková, Furio Zanasi, Willard White and Zachary Wilder, to name a few.