CULTURE

The Epilogue of The Storm, An Evening Of Zbigniew Herbert's Poetry

An untypical evening of poetry by Zbiegniew Herbert took place in the cafe club Nasz Klub that was packed to the rafters on a Monday night (a venue that promotes cultural events, run by Adam and Halina Nowak with the assistance of their daughter Agnieszka Nowak-Latawiec).

The Epilogue of the Storm, an idea that Ryszard Reisner had worked on for a year, finally came to fruition with this performance, as a closing sequel to the Herbert exhibition, running at the same time, which he instigated and helped to organize at the Old Town gallery, Odwach in Poznań.

The difference of this evening was in the first place the fact that it was presented bilingually in Polish and English and next, that a portion of the poems were set to music. Włodzimierz Gożelańczyk, Director of the Department of Art and Culture in Poznań opened the evening by way of a few words expressing the city's support of important cultural events such as this. Agnieszka Nowak-Latawiec was the master of ceremonies and the trio of two violins and cello, sisters Zuzanna and Marta Pitel together with Maria Górska, all from the Maria Magdelena Grammar School, played the classical intermezzos. Katarzyna Herbert in fact had looked forward to being present at this performance but at the last moment ill health prevented her coming.

The poems, mainly taken from Herbert's last book, The Epilogue of the Storm, were interpreted splendidly by Michal Grudziński, a Poznań actor of great renown. The English versions were read by the translator Ryszard Reisner who had gained permission from the late poet's wife for their English versions. It would seem that opinion was divided on how the poems came across in English, with those that knew English well enough to appreciate the translations, being in the minority. It must be added however, that the translator was gratified to learn that for many who knew little or no English, the readings managed to convey a similar melody to that of the original.

Ewa Stańko's versions of the poetry, seven pieces inspired by The Epilog of The Storm, the author's last book, appealed to many. Some compositions in particular, such as Song, seemed to be written by Herbert with music in mind. Piotr Kałużny was responsible for arranging the compositions and accompanied Ewa Stańko on piano during the evening. All the poems, in particular the first and last (from archival recordings where the late author read himself), testify irrefutably that Zbigniew Herbert was a poet of great standing.

Małgorzata Derwich
On the photograph (from left): Ryszard Reisner and Michał Grudziński.
Photo 2: Michał Grudziński and Ewa Stanko in the background.
Photo, M. Derwich.