Polish singer, actressMusical artist

Ewa Maria Demarczyk (16 January 1941 – 14 August 2020) was a Polish singer, generally *ociated with the sung poetry music genre and the Piwnica pod Baranami cabaret.

Demarczyk was recognized as one of the most talented and charismatic singers in the history of Polish music. She was praised for her unique interpretations, expression, and unusual stage personality. In the 1960s, she drew comparisons with Édith Piaf. In Poland, she would be often referred to as "the Dark Angel".

Contents

• 1 Biography
• 2 Style
• 3 Awards and honours
• 4 Discography
• 5 List of songs
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links
• 9 Bibliography

Biography

She started her career in 1961, when she joined Jagiellonian University Medical College's student cabaret Cyrulik. After one year she left Cyrulik for Piwnica pod Baranami, where she met Zygmunt Konieczny, with whom she would work for the next four years.

Her first big success was a performance at 1963 National Festival of Polish Song in Opole where she got an award for the songs "Karuzela z madonnami", "Taki pejzaż" and "Czarne anioły". Later the same year Ewa sang also at Sopot International Song Festival and was named the best artist of 1963 by Polish journalists. In 1964 she took the second place in Sopot for "Grande Valse Brillante". The artist went on to perform at Olympia in Paris, after Bruno Coquatrix's invitation, as well as at the ceremony celebrating 20th anniversary of United Nations.

In 1966, she graduated from Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts (however, later she never played any part in a movie). The same year the artist teamed up with another composer, Andrzej Zarycki. The year 1967 saw the release of her first longplay album, Ewa Demarczyk śpiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego, which proved to be a major success and was later certified Platinum for selling over 100,000 copies.

At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, she travelled extensively around the world to countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, United States, Australia, United Kingdom and Finland. She performed in numerous concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York and the Chicago Theatre.

Demarczyk left the Piwnica pod Baranami in 1972. Two years later her next album was issued, including some new Polish songs plus four Russian-language versions of her previously known hits. It was released in Russia by the state-owned label Melodiya and sold several million copies. Later in the 1970s she was awarded an honorary award at Opole Festival and Order of Polonia Res*uta.

Her 1982 live album, simply *led Live, turned out to be a big success, achieving Gold certification in Poland. In the mid-1980s the singer founded her own theatre in Kraków. In spite of formal difficulties, it was soon shut down, although it generated interest. In the 1990s her albums were re-released on CD and the artist got a number of awards in recognition of her input to Polish culture. Demarczyk continued to perform live until the late 1990s.

She gave her last concert on 8 November 1999 at the Grand Theatre in Poznań and afterwards she completely withdrew from public life. In 2001, a foundation Teatr Ewy Demarczyk was created. She died on 14 August 2020, aged 79.

Style

Demarczyk's repertoire consisted of demanding, not easily accessible interpretations of poems. Since her songs are often based on poems of "cl*ical" poets, both Polish such as Julian Tuwim and Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński and foreign like Goethe, Mandelstam, Rainer Maria Rilke or avant-garde writers, such as Miron Białoszewski, the genre that Demarczyk is *ociated with is called sung poetry.

In her performances, she united both dramatic theatrical expression and vocal art (she was a graduate of both a drama school and conservatory, where she studied the piano). Every song she performed was in fact a short musical drama of enormous intensity.

Awards and honours

• 1962: 2nd Prize at the National Students' Song Festival for the song Karuzela z madonnami
• 1963: 1st Prize at the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole for the song Czarne anioły ("Black Angels")
• 1963: Special Award at the Sopot International Song Festival for the song Czarne anioły
• 1964: 2nd Prize at the Sopot International Song Festival for the song Grande Valse Brillante
• 1967: Prize at the World Theatre Festival in Arezzo, Italy
• 1969: 1st Prize at the Mondial du Theatre Festival in Nancy, France
• 1971: Gold Cross of Merit
• 1977: Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, (France)
• 1978: Prize of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland for "outstanding contributions to the promotion of Polish culture abroad"
• 1978: City of Kraków Award
• 1979: Special Journalists' Award at the XVII National Festival of Polish Song in Opole
• 1979: Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Res*uta
• 1990: Special Award at the XXVII National Festival of Polish Song in Opole for "outstanding achievements in the art of song interpretation"
• 1993: Special Award of the Polish Television
• 1997: Prize of the Kraków Voivodeship for "great artistic achievements as well as contributions to shaping the musical image of Poland"
• 2000: Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Res*uta
• 2005: Gold Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis
• 2010: Gold Fryderyk Award for Lifetime Achievements
• 2011: Special Award of the TVP1 Channel for "a distinguished figure in the Polish culture"
• 2012: The Annual Award of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland for Lifetime Achievements
• 2017: Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Res*uta

Discography

Ewa Demarczyk in 1966

Albums:

• 1967: Ewa Demarczyk śpiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego
• 1974: Ewa Demarczyk
• 1982: Live

Singles:

• 1963: Karuzela z madonnami / Czarne anioły / Taki pejzaż
• 1964: Grande Valse Brillante
• 1968: Grande Valse Brillante / Tomaszów
• 1974: Groszki i róże / Sur le pont d’Avignon / Jaki śmieszny / Cyganka / Zmory wiosenne

List of songs

The list presents the songs sung by Ewa Demarczyk arranged in alphabetical order:

See also

• Polish music
• sung poetry
• Grzegorz Turnau
• Anna German
• Piwnica pod Baranami
• List of Poles

References

External links

• Website
• The Polish Edith Piaf: A Love Letter to Ewa Demarczyk at Culture.pl
• Discography on poezja-spiewana.pl
• Profile of Ewa Demarczyk at Culture.pl
• Ewa Demarczyk discography at Discogs

Bibliography

• Angelika Kuźniak, Ewelina Karpacz-Oboładze: Czarny Anioł. Opowieść o Ewie Demarczyk:: Znak, Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy Sp.z o.o.:: 2015:: ISBN:978-83-240-2049-2