Just like Just like in Vienna – two beautiful New Year’s concerts are behind us

As has become tradition, on the first weekend of the New Year, two absolutely exceptional concerts took place. 125 m below ground, we hosted excellent artists from the Krakow Opera. 

New Year’s concerts have been organised for over a dozen years at the “Wieliczka” Salt Mine. Every year, they enjoy great interest, and so for the last several seasons, two such concerts have been held every year. 

Last Saturday and Sunday (5th and 6th January 2019), the salt underground resounded with beautiful music performed by the Krakow Opera Orchestra conducted by Tomasz Tokarczyk. However, above all, we admired all the wonderful soloists: Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha, Monika Korybalska and Iwona Socha, as well as Krzysztof Kozarek and Adam Sobierajski, who enchanted the audience gathered in the Warsaw Chamber. Performances by artists from the Krakow Opera Ballet were a surprise for the audience.

This year, to celebrate the centennial of Polish independence, the concert programme did not lack Polish accents. The concert began with Wojciech Kilar’s “Polonaise” and Henryk Wieniawski’s “Kujawiak”, accompanied by a dance show performed by dancers from the Krakow Opera Ballet. We also listened to Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha’s touching performance of the nostalgic Helena’s Song by Krzesimir Dębski. Later in the concert we heard, among others, works by Viennese opera and operetta classics, including the famous On the Beautiful Blue Danube, an overture from Die Fledermaus, and a trio of treasures from Der Zigeunerbaron. 

The second part of the concert took the audience to Italy. The excellent soloists presented not only the repertoire of the Italian classics – Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. We also heard operatic performances of popular entertainment hits, such as the well-known “Felicità”, “Lasciatemi cantare” and “Volare”, during which the audience gathered in the Warsaw Chamber happily joined in.

The concerts were captivating and extraordinary. We invite all music lovers to the “Wieliczka” Salt Mine next year.

See the photo report.