The very brilliant genius that is Nigel Kennedy Violinist and a Polish jazz band are to improvise during screening of match as part of Southbank festival of Polish culture this weekend so go and see it!!!
It was one of the most traumatic matches in England’s football history, the one where that “clown” Jan Tomaszewski made save after save ensuring Poland went to the World Cup and – unthinkably – England didn’t. So the decision by the violinist Nigel Kennedy to screen it at the Royal Festival Hall just weeks before this year’s World Cup may, at the very least, raise eyebrows.
The Southbank Centre in London, Europe’s biggest arts centre, has announced it is handing its buildings over to Kennedy to create a “miniature Poland” on the Thames during this year’s late May bank holiday weekend. The maverick violinist, a passionate Aston Villa fan who moved to Krakow several years ago, will curate a weekend of events as the culmination of a year of cultural activities that have taken place under the banner Polska!
His most eye-catching concert will be a screening of the 1973 England v Poland match, albeit without the Barry Davies commentary. Instead it will be accompanied by Kennedy and Polish jazz musicians, playing a semi-improvised score.
Kennedy said the match perfectly represented “what the whole festival is about, which is bringing Polish culture into England”.
Those England fans who watched in disbelief 37 years ago might, of course, see it differently. If England failed to win the visitors went through to the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany. The papers were full of scorn for Poland, and Brian Clough was typically not shy in giving his opinion, calling the goalkeeper Tomaszewski “a clown”.
But it was the clown who effectively put Poland through with a string of impressive saves. The 1-1 draw meant England were out for the first time. The nation went to work the next day depressed and shocked. Sir Alf Ramsay was, humiliatingly, sacked as manager.
Happy days, then. Kennedy said his decision to screen it was fuelled by his belief in the similarities between football and music. “Football brings a lot of people together and music is obviously designed expressly for that purpose. They’re also both shared things across all nations.”
The weekend will also see the British debut of Kennedy’s Orchestra of Life, an ensemble of young Polish musicians brought together by the violinist who will perform a programme featuring music by Bach and Duke Ellington.
Kennedy said of the orchestra: “I love working with young people who are open-minded and flexible and who have a real energy and vivacity in their approach to music. These young cats show the discipline and spontaneity of Polish culture.”
Other highlights include a celebratory concert by “Nigel Kennedy’s Chopin Super Group” featuring Janusz Olejniczak, who played the piano music in Roman Polanski’s film The Pianist.
Kennedy, the boy prodigy who became the brandy drinking diamond geezer, has lived in Poland for some time. “I’m well into the Polish life,” he said. “Ranging from the music and football through to the brilliant beer and vodka. Poland has an incredibly rich environment for all music. I’m sure I’ve had a much better chance to develop as a musician because all of these live forms of music that are very prevalent in Polish music.
“I wanted to bring some Polish culture over to London and make the Southbank Centre into a miniature Poland for a while.”
Nigel Kennedy’s FA Project: England v Poland 1973 will take place on the evening of Sunday 30 May. The England fans who do put themselves through watching the match afresh will have, of course, some consolation. Poland failed to qualify for this year’s finals in South Africa.