Poland pays tribute to 19th-century composer Moniuszko

Planned events included an open-air concert celebrating the composer in the courtyard of the presidential palace in Warsaw.

The Viva Moniuszko! concert was expected to be open to the general public and feature a long lineup of performers inspired by the work of the iconic composer and representing various styles and genres of music.

Sunday marked exactly 200 years since Moniuszko was born at a time when the nation was under foreign rule.

The upper house of the country’s parliament, the Senate, in December unanimously adopted a resolution to declare 2019 the Year of Stanisław Moniuszko.

The bicentenary of Moniuszko’s birth in 2019 has been included on a list of UNESCO-sponsored anniversaries as a result of a joint initiative by Poland, Lithuania and Belarus.

A concert of choirs from the three countries was held to celebrate the Polish composer in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday evening.

A performance of a concert version of the composer’s flagship opera Halka in December launched observances of the Year of Moniuszko in the Lithuanian capital.

Moniuszko was born on May 5, 1819, in Ubiel near Minsk, present-day Belarus, and lived for some time in Vilnius, in what is now Lithuania, before moving to Warsaw.

As well as composing operas, he wrote chamber compositions, religious songs and patriotic music reflecting the history of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

He died of a heart attack on June 4, 1872. He was buried at Warsaw’s Powązki Cemetery.

(gs)

Source: IAR