A mass in the Holy Cross Basilica in Warsaw on Saturday at 1.00 will include two of Moniuszko’s sacred works and will be followed by a concert featuring a selection of his compositions for organ and voice and piano.
The Warsaw Music Society, which was co-founded by Moniuszko, is the venue of a concert featuring the composer’s two string quarters, while the opera "The Haunted Manor" is billed at the Polish Royal Opera in the 18th-century historic theatre in Warsaw’s Łazienki Park.
Events also include a conference in Warsaw under the motto "Moniuszko and the romantic imagination," which is attended by musicologists, musicians as well as Moniuszko’s great-great granddaughter Elżbieta Stanisława Janowska-Moniuszko.
Moniuszko’s chamber works are featured in Saturday’s concert at the Alte Pfarrkirche "Zu den Vier Evangelisten" in Berlin, a city where Moniuszko studied composition.
Forthcoming events include an International Moniuszko Vocal Competition, which opens at Warsaw’s National Opera on Monday, with the participation of more than 80 singers from across the world. Launched in 1992, it is one of the most prestigious events of its kind.
Moniuszko was born in Ubiel near Minsk, present-day Belarus, on May 5, 1819. He came from a patriotic family of Polish landowners. He studied music in Warsaw, Minsk and Berlin. Following the successes of his first operas, he was engaged as conductor at Warsaw’s Grand Theatre.
He has earned his place in the history of European music primarily as the father of Polish national opera.
In addition to the operas "The Haunted Manor," "Halka," "The Raftsman," "The Countess," and "Verbum Nobile," his output comprises several operettas, over 250 songs, mass cycles, cantatas, and chamber compositions.
Stanisław Moniuszko died on June 4, 1872 in Warsaw, aged 53.
(mk)