According to the worst forecasts, Wrocław could be underwater on Thursday. And the main hall in the National Forum of Music, 20 meters high, is sunk in the basement. The musicians have already taken the instruments to the upper floors. The symphony organ is being dismantled. On Wednesday, a barrier will be built around the building.
The National Forum of Music in Wrocław does not remember any flood. It was established in 2015. When meteorologists began to predict a week ago that the water might not bypass the capital of Lower Silesia, and that the culminating wave would come on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday at the latest, musicians rolled up their sleeves.
– We are optimistic, but we are preparing for the worst – says Olga Humeńczuk, director of NFM, in an interview with us.
The building has nine floors. Three floors are underground. The 20-meter-high main hall begins at the minus one level. “The apple of our eye,” Humeńczuk says.
Evacuation of the organ of the National Forum of Music in WrocławNFM
On Sunday, the last concerts were held at the Philharmonic. On Monday, the musicians brought everything that was underground to the upper floors.
– Pianos, harpsichords, upright pianos, percussion instruments, stage equipment, desks, chairs – the director lists. On the same day, he began dismantling the symphony organ in the main hall. In particular, the lower parts, including the playing table, wooden and metal pipes. This is being done by specialists sent by the German company that built the instrument.
Evacuation of the organ of the National Forum of Music in WrocławNFM
On Wednesday, the audience chairs are planned to be unscrewed – there are 900 of them – and a barrier made of fibreboards will be built and sandbags will be placed around the building.
Evacuation of the organ of the National Forum of Music in WrocławNFM
Main image source: NFM