Greenpoint as everyone knows is home to a large Polish community. The recent untimely death of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other high-ranking Polish officials in a plane crash, last week, has put the Polish community in a tailspin. This terribly unfortunate event, strangely coincides with the week of the premiere of a rarely performed Polish opera Hrabina (first time in the States) by the local opera company OperaOggiNY. The opera which had been scheduled at two Greenpoint venues will only be performed at the Warsaw, this Sunday, April 18th. The other venue, the Polish Slavic Center which had scheduled the performance for April 16th, cancelled this and all activities of the week, to observe a week of mourning for those who died, according to a spokesperson at the Polish Slavic Center.
“In response to the recent events, we have decided to turn the one performance on Sunday April 18th at 5pm at the Warsaw into a memorial for all those who died a few days ago,” said Will Carter, press representative for OperaOggiNY. There will also be a rehearsal on Friday, April 16th at the Warsaw, to which the public is welcome, said OperaOggiNY’s executive director Thomas Lawrence Toscano. (Tickets are available at the door, $20).
“It is quite astonishing to us that we are thrust into this situation and have our opera ready at hand, scheduled to perform. Of course, we would rather do two performances, however, history is quite bigger than we are. We are privileged to add our voices and efforts and this opera (in rehearsal locally since January) to help our community deal with this tragedy and also, to honor all those involved.”
A little history: Hrabina, the first nationalistic Polish opera, was premiered in February 1860. That performance was a wild success especially given the unrest with the surrounding occupying forces, including Russia. Three years later, the climate grew to such proportions that there took place the famous January Uprising ( 1863). The opera, being cleverly disguised, brought out many issues about foreign cultures and languages, often times being more valued and substituting their own culture and language. This pro Polish opera, had a hand in giving people a musical example of how great their culture and their language actually was.
OPERAOGGINY presents
HRABINA
by Moniuszko (an opera in 3 acts)
*A MEMORIAL PERFORMANCE
dedicated to the
“President of Poland”
and the “Katyn Tragedy”
Friday, April 16th at 8pm
Sunday, April 18th at 5pm
at the Warsaw
261 Driggs Ave
Tickets $20 at the door.
Please do help us spread the word.
For more info, it will be faster to contact our Artistic Director.
Thomas Lawrence Toscano
718-916-2200 or Thomas@operaogginy.com
—
Will Carter
Press Volunteer
OperaOggiNY
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