Chopin’s Warsaw is a filmic journey around the city of Warsaw in the company of Frycek. That’s the name that was given to Fryderyk Chopin in his youth by his friends and family. See Warsaw, past and present, through his eyes. Discover the city where Poland’s greatest composer spent his youth. (more…)
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…)
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.
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It’s difficult to mention the titles of all of Mozarts’ works that have become known through the repertory of the Opera Circle. So I will content myself with mentioning only numbers: Bastien and Bastienne is the seventh premiere of a Mozart opera by the Polish troupe based in Cleveland.
Mozart created twenty scenic-vocal works, which, considering his short life, barely 35 years, was a great achievement. He composed his first opera at the age of 10. Bastien and Bastienne was created when this talented child was only twelve years old. (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.
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Opera Circle recently presented the works of two composers living over 300 years ago, writing in a style known as Classical Music. The two evening concerts were presented on March 10 at St. Anne’s Church in Cleveland Heights and at St. Stanislaus in Slavic Village on March 11.
The English composer, Henry Purcell (1659-1695) and the Italian, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi both lived short lives, particularly Pergolesi who died in 1736 at the age of 26. Opera Circle performed Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” and Purcell’s opera, “Dido and Aeneas” .
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Due to the production cycles of the Forum, we are publishing with some delay this report of an event from December 10, 2005, a performance of „Rita”, a one-act comic opera of Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), presented as part of a series of concerts in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Opera Circle.
With the right author addressing the topic, one can find much light humor in the relationship between husband and wife. The librettist Ustano Vaez is one such author. He came upon an idea to show us something different and just a bit livelier for the amusement of the audience: one wife with two husbands under no suspicion of bigamy, but rather living in accordance with the law.
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Even if we don’t like classical music and Chopin is too sentimental for our modern taste, the news about the Chopin Competition always brings back memories. Taking place every five years in Warsaw, the Chopin Competition became a unique national phenomenon. Over a period of several weeks, the music of Chopin flows and reaches out to the people from everywhere, from radio, television, press, from teachers, relatives, and friends. This collective experiencing of the greatest pianistic art becomes engraved in us, becomes our heritage. In many Polish homes, the Chopin Competition is worshiped as a most precious tradition. Strictly forbidden by the Nazis during the war, the music of Chopin contains deep patriotic meaning for the Polish people, while the piano itself is our national instrument.
In October of this year Warsaw once again experienced the excitement of hosting the International Chopin Competition. This year for the first time ever Polonia and music lovers all over the world could follow this historic event live via internet and satellite. And there was so much to follow! (more…)
