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

  The Pigeon of  Peace in flight from the Cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park In its quest for historic 'drama' and despite numerous prestigious cinema awards, the film inexplicably (and for me unforgivably), even arrogantly, entirely neglects the horrifying and continuing effects of the nuclear bomb on the hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   The 'Music for Peace'  Project arose from this cataclysm  and also my essay:  Hiroshima, Warsaw and Chopin - The glorious rebirth of two cities   Below is my reminiscence of my visit to Hiroshima I suggest you read this and come to a more balanced and universally human view of the brutal continuing effects of the bomb This evening I have just arrived in Hiroshima in Japan from Warsaw on  this is my first visit to the country . Such a long and tiring journey from Poland but worth every minute given the humanist aim. I intend to keep a daily internet journal of my experiences here over t

Click on photos to enlarge for a superior image One of the beautiful wooden formerly Orthodox (now Roman Catholic) churches in the remote Bieszczady region of  S-E Poland B elow is an extract from Chapter 16   Vistula – Of Dragons, Martyrs and Lovers    taken from the book     A Country in the Moon: Travels in Search of the Heart of Poland  by Michael Moran (London 2008)  In Poland I feel strongly surrounded by the atmosphere of religion particularly at Easter. During my first experience it was as though childhood religious feelings had burst upon me with renewed vigour. The haunting feeling of Christ in his sepulchre lay heavy in the air. Easter is one of the greatest Roman Catholic festivals in Poland. In the Kazimierz Dolny parish church on that Good Friday rivulets of 'blood' ran to the floor from the body of Christ twisted in agony on the cross. His tomb was guarded by a pair of weary firemen in brass helmets holding silver axes. Three nuns were fervently praying while oth