Viva Moniuszko: Honouring father of Polish national opera

He was born on May 5, 1819 in Ubiel, present-day Belarus.

The courtyard of the presidential palace in Warsaw was hosting a daylong event under the motto Viva Moniuszko, featuring performers including the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Warsaw Sentimental Orchestra.

Internationally-renowned pianist Cyprien Katsaris was billed to perform at the Polish Radio Concert Studio with a recital of Moniuszko’s piano pieces and transcriptions of his songs and operatic arias.

The Warsaw Philharmonic, which is located on the city's Moniuszko Street, has organised the Moniuszko on Moniuszko Street series of events, which include concerts and recitals in the philharmonic hall, performances by the Philharmonic Chorus on an open-air stage, contests and other special attractions.

Moniuszko’s Mass in E flat major was set to be performed by the Polish Royal Opera during a Holy Mass celebrated in St. John’s Cathedral by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, while the first of the composer’s four Litanies of Ostra Brama (Litanie Ostrobramskie)--written in honour of the shrine to the Virgin Mary at Ostra Brama Cathedral in Vilnius, where Moniuszko lived for many years--was scheduled to be performed at the Polish capital’s Holy Cross Basilica.

A wide range of events marking the Moniuszko anniversary was also scheduled in other Polish cities.

Moniuszko’s output includes the operas Halka, The Haunted Manor, The Countess, Verbum nobile and The Raftsman, in addition to several operettas, more than 250 songs, religious works, chamber compositions and works for piano.

(mk/gs)