Retrospect concert tour 2017 - Wrocław

Text: Christoph Burckhardt, Fotos: Aurel Salzer

"Dzień dobry" and "Dobrý den"! This year's concert tour took us to three different countries in eastern Europe: Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The first part of our documentation of this journey tells the tales of an (almost) sleepless night in a night train, a very charming train conductress, and of explorations and a concert in Poland's fourth-biggest city, Wroclaw.

It was with great anticipation that we started our journey eastwards on Friday, 2 June 2017. Before our first stop came a ride in the very modern Russian night train Paris-Moscow. None of us could really sleep, we were too excited about the ten days to come. It took until the early morning hours until the last of the singers lost his fight against sleep, to the relief of the Russian conductress and the Russian lady in the compartment next to one of ours.

The next day, after one change of trains and a hearty polish meal in the train restaurant, we reached our first destination Wrocław. We had a rehearsal in St. George's Church (Kościół św. Jerzego), after which most of us took the opportunity to set their eyes on the picturesque city center and sink their teeth into some polish cuisine. The nightly strolls were complimented on the third day of our journey by a guided tour through the city, which was rounded out by a beer in a city-prison-turned-pub. One thing that stood out during the city tour were the many small sculptures of gnomes which were erected by the city of Wrocław in remembrance of student protests against the communist regime in the 1980s.

In the final part of our stay in Wrocław, we had the honor to accompany a holy mass with two pieces of sacred music. The concert with two other choirs - the male choir "Cantilena" and a mixed student choir - following the holy mass was a fitting ending to the first part of the tour. After a cordial reception and a drink with the singers from the other choirs, we got out into Wrocław's nightlife for the last time before parting with Poland for the time being. "Na zdrowie!"

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung durch:

 
Schüller -Stiftung 
Abteilung Kultur Basel Stadt
Pro Helvetia
Derungs Stiftung 
Mit finanzieller Unterstützung durch die FONDATION SUISA