Polish presidential couple attend Easter Beethoven Festival

The meeting, which was held several hours after the terrorist attacks in Brussels, was marred by those tragic events.

President Andrzej Duda said during the meeting that everyone should stand united in defence of Europe’s values and cultural foundations.

The German ambassador to Warsaw, Rolf Nikel, recalled that the meeting was originally planned as an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Polish-German Treaty, highlighting friendship and partnership between the two countries.

“However, the tragic events in Brussels have given the meeting an entirely different character,” he said, describing the attacks in the Belgian capital as attacks on “Europe, our civilization and the values that we all represent”.

Duda and his wife attended Tuesday’s concert of the Sinfonieorchester Hamburg. They arrived at the Philharmonic Hall with 13 year-old Krzyś. Despite serious health problems resulting from a genetic disorder, the boy attends a music school, playing a trumpet.

His dream was to meet the president. Some time before the concert he had been invited to meet the head of state.

The programme of the concert included works by Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Dmitri Shostakovich under its Principal Guest Conductor, Poland’s Krzysztof Urbański, with famous American baritone Thomas Hampson as the soloist.

On Wednesday, the German orchestra is billed with the same programme in Katowice. (mk/pk)