This year’s Wratislavia Cantans is the twelfth edition that I have the pleasure of programming. We start with the work of the young Georg Friedrich Händel, whose grandfather was a cauldron maker in Breslau. This small fact from the biography of the Händel family is an example of the connections of the city of Wratislavia Cantans with many preeminent figures of the arts. One of Wrocław’s most important artists was Andrzej Markowski, founder and long-time director of Wratislavia Cantans and animator of musical life. We are dedicating a special concert to him on the occasion of his 100th anniversary.

We come to a concert to listen to music, but it is worth realising that it often has its sources in historical and social events. Migration has been the fate of humans since time immemorial but has also facilitated the spread of ideas. It sometimes explains the occurrence of similar elements in cultures thousands of kilometers away from each other. At the festival, we will hear numerous works created thanks to such journeys Whereas in music, migration also denotes transcription.

The finale of the 59th Wratislavia Cantans is a performance by an exceptional artist, a legend, a famed interpreter of great symphonic works. Maestro Christoph Eschenbach, a war emigrant, returns to the place of his childhood as the director of the local orchestra. We titled the concert New Beginnings. So we begin with a piece by Händel, whose grandfather hailed from Breslau, and we end with a performance by a conductor born here, who decades later returns to Wrocław as artistic director of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. But let the migration contexts be only a guide and an inspiration for reflection. What is most important is music and the people who create it: authors, composers, performers and audiences. Let’s meet at the festival in the city of coexistence of various cultures and religions, past and present. Let’s try to imagine a friendly future thanks to music.

Giovanni Antonini
Artistic Director
International Festival Wratislavia Cantans