Classical Music in Poland and the Europe of Chopin - From the Reviewer's Notebook

And so we come to the concluding gala celebrating the successful conclusion of the 28th Mozart Festival given in Warsaw by Warszawska Opera Kameralna.  It was a shame I was absent from Warsaw during much of this period in Lübeck-Travemunde (Schleswig-Holstein) following the footsteps of Thomas Mann and his masterpiece Buddenbrooks. I was able to only review two operas and the opening and closing concerts. The concluding programme was a similar extensive potpourri to the opening concert of popular Mozart arias and overtures from various operas that were presented during the festival. The evening was intended to 'give pleasure' which it undoubtedly did to the enthusiastic audience - an uncomplicated concert for the enjoyment of familiar Mozart with fine singers from the company. The orchestra Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense (who play permanently on period instruments) was directed by the distinguished Polish conductor Marcin Sompolinski. The choice of the Teatr P

                                                                                                          Photography Jarosław Budzyński  'A work of art is a king, one must wait to be addressed by it. One must take trouble over it, one must take time.'                                                                                                                                                                                                               Wilhelm Furtwängler Notebooks 1924-1954 This review may appear late and therefore irrelevant, but Die Zauberflöte always gives me pause for nostalgic reflection and the deepest thought.  Of course a music review should deal with a specific  performance rather then the music itself. However in this magical, magisterial opera and its depiction of the 'moving toyshop of the heart', the music always transcends the performers in a twinkling of stars. I confess I did not have the psychological strength to w