It is not until the current issue of Forum that we describe Opera Circle’s performances on November 20 and 22 of 2009. We hope that this tardiness will be forgiven by the directors of the Opera and the faithful public that came to the Bohemian National Hall, where the performances of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale took place. (more…)
The lovers from Verona, Romeo and Juliet, have returned to us after an eight-year hiatus. Opera Circle first presented this tragic love story in 2001. The current production was performed twice: November 6 and 8, 2009, at St. Stanislaus Church. The story that inspired Shakespeare has taken on countless forms all over the world—after all, everyone knows it. It has been presented as a theatrical drama as well as in musical versions by numerous composers. Prokofiev wrote an ingenious ballet, Tchaikovsky an orchestral poem, while Gounod and Bellini created operatic versions. (more…)
Whenever I set out to describe a work presented by Opera Circle, I feel somewhat anxious. I doubt if I will be able to accomplish the task, whether I will sufficiently represent the composer and his work, whether I will grant enough credit to the tremendous dedication of the Sobieski family in such an endeavor…
My preference would be to share a brief commentary along with a colorful DVD, since it is truly impossible to express in words the entire artistic aura created by the sets, the costumes, the soloists, the choir, and, of course, the music as performed by the orchestra. (more…)
My introduction to the Polish American Cultural Center came in the form of an exhibition opening. As part of my job, coordinator of the SPACES World Artists Program at SPACES gallery, I was hosting Polish artist Roman Dziadkiewicz. I wanted Roman to learn about Cleveland and to better understand what it means to be part of a Polish community in the United States. Also, he had been forced to speak and write in English for weeks, and we both needed some help. Roman and I were warmly welcomed to the opening of the Polish-Hungarian exhibition, documenting the relationship between the two peoples over many, many years. While Roman found solace in other Polish artists, I was moved by the openness of the Polish Center to welcome another community through its doors. (more…)
The tragedy of great artists, says Peggy Grant, is that they live only during the time that they work, and when they pass away, their creation dies with them if they have no one to pass on their way of seeing the world. She never wanted this fate to befall her husband, Adam Grant, and therefore she continues his work in her own special way identifying with his creation, presenting it to the world by traveling to various Polish centers to talk about Adam Grant’s life and art. He has remained alive in this way and by her side.
We were fortunate to have been visited by Mrs. Grant in the Cleveland Polish American Cultural Center on January 5, to hear her speak about Adam Grant and view his work in a slide show presentation.
(more…)
Several weeks ago, on December 10, 2006, I had a great pleasure to attend a concert “When Stars Collide” at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron, Ohio. I decided to spend this beautiful Sunday afternoon by going to the concert at E.J. Thomas Hall for two reasons: I needed to relax in the middle of my difficult exam session, and most importantly, I wanted to hear a young, very promising musician of the Polish origin.
Konrad Binienda (17), a senior at Firestone High School in Akron, appeared as a soloist with the Akron Symphony in the world premiere of his own composition Piano Concerto in e-minor. When asked before the performance what was his inspiration for writing this concerto, he replied that he began working on this composition just after the departure of John Paul II. The death of “the Polish national hero,” as he put it, inspired him to write this very beautiful music. I am writing “beautiful” because this is the only word that comes to mind as appropriate to describe my experience. In this music I heard Zygmunt tolls from Wawel Hills, birds singing over Polish meadows, and all my nostalgia for Poland, albeit I would never be able to paint it with sound like Konrad painted it. A more experienced ear could easily discern Chopin’s motives woven into the structure of the concerto. Konrad himself remarked that Chopin has been his icon.
(more…)
In Chicago’s Grant Park, work began in November on the installation of an interesting project named “Agora” (from the Greek, “a place of meeting”) by our own Magdalena Abakanowicz. This seems a good time, then, to introduce the artist with a few words here.
Abakanowicz (born June 20, 1930) is one of the most well-known Polish artists throughout the world. For many years, she was one of the main „exports” of Polish culture, representing the country officially on the world stage; she was one of the most often cited artists in promotional materials for Polish art.
Abakanowicz specializes in creating large, figurative, spacial compositions using fabric, stone, wood, and bronze; her compositions have become known as „abakans” from her name. She is a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań, where she taught classes from 1965 to 1990. Silhouettes of human figures standing in a certain order are a frequent feature of her work. One example is „Nierozpoznani” (The Unrecognized), permanently installed at the Citadel in Poznań. The Chicago Project “Agora” is similar.
(more…)
In the fifties, America became wealthier, and, in addition to money, they discovered free time. Time which they devoted to themselves, their families, and their friends. They bought homes and looked to their neighbors to see what was new in their garden and they bought the same grills, the same patio furniture, the same cars, and the same clothes. And, in their homes, they hung the same pictures on the walls.
But it’s easy to spend money. It was also important to show personality and creativity, especially artistic creativity. And a new fad helped: paint by numbers! The idea was a phenomenon. Entire sets were sold: the picture, paints, and brushes. Everyone could match the color with the number and paint those areas with the same number the same color. In this way they painted their own works of art with their own hands.
(more…)
Opera Circle gave this year two spectacles important for its up-to-date achievements. These were “Dido and Aeneas” by H. Purcell and “Thamos, King of Egypt” by W. A. Mozart. Since the first work was already described in Forum, let’s discuss the opera “Thamos, King of Egypt”. Is it only an opera or something more? Was it written just by Mozart? What should we call this kind of a spectacle where music, solos and assembly of singers, choruses, poetic and philosophical recitations, and dance (represented by many ballet interludes) are equally important?
When it comes to libretto we have a certain novelty. It was written by two authors: T. Ph. Baron von Gebler, a dramatist living in Mozart’s time, and Dorota Sobieska, whose part was substantial. Sobieska kept main plots and likeness of characters extending the legend written a long time ago for theater. The incidental music was mainly choral. In order to make it a full show the music needed to be expanded to include new arias and interludes, a task given to Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian by birth, Kent State University professor, and a composer of world renown. This seemingly very risky experiment turned out to be a success. The classical music of Mozart is juxtaposed in this new piece with the music of the XXI century. The enriched language of modern composition added to the piece a lot of lyrical quality and Egyptian character based on the folklore, because the action of the story is placed in ancient Egypt.
(more…)
There are times at the Center when we sit around thinking about what we can offer our guests. One of our recurring ideas is a film club. For those who weren’t raised in the later years of the PRL (Poland before the “Solidarity”), the initials „DKF” may not mean anything. To learn more about the Dyskusyjne Kluby Filmowe, or the Film Discussion Clubs, read the text below, from Józef Lorski, in Warsaw. (The text has been abbreviated.)
There was a time in Poland when there was a vibrant movement of film discussion clubs. The first clubs arose during the political strife of 1956. Soon thereafter, a nationwide federation of clubs formed, to represent the clubs to the state authorities, giving the clubs a certain status that removed them from the oversight of the local authorities. Every independent initiative in the PRL, not inspired or developed by the party, was in some way or other under the control of a party institution, or at least under suspicion. The clubs were forced to search for their own patrons among different groups, including schools, factories, offices, and cultural centers, and so such sponsorship was necessary. The repertoire – above all, the meetings and discussions after the movie showings – comprised an oasis of freedom in the world of the PRL. There were few other places where it was possible to be so open, to say what you were thinking publicly. Often the films simply became a pretext for conversations about people and everyday situations, about the rules governing social life.
(more…)
