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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:red;background:white'>Opera
Circle to perform “Chopin and His Master” on April 23 and 24<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:red;background:white'>Birthday
Celebration Features US Premiere of Comic Opera by Chopin’s Teacher<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:
white'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>Opera Circle
will continue its celebration of Frederic Chopin’s 200<sup>th</sup> birthday
with <i>Chopin and His Master</i>—a light and lovely evening of opera to
showcase one of the most important piano composers in history—at 8 p.m. on
Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24 at the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus
(3649 East 65<sup>th</sup> Street, Cleveland 44105). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>The program
includes <i>Variations on La ci darem la mano, 17 Songs </i>and the U.S.
premiere of <i>Echo in the Woods (Echo w leslie) </i>by Chopin’s teacher Jozef
Elsner. Baritone Krzystzof Biernacki, Tenor Andrzej Stec and Soprano Dorota
Sobieska will join director Jacek Sobieski and the Opera Circle Orchestra for a
festive performance that will be sung and narrated in Polish, with English
translation projected above the stage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>Frederic
Chopin, considered one of the great masters of Romantic music, was a child
prodigy born in Poland in 1810 and began giving public concerts at the age of
seven. He performed at acclaimed concert halls and for royalty throughout
western Europe, and achieved celebrity status when he settled in Paris in 1831
to focus on teaching piano to affluent European students. While Chopin
had a natural impulse toward operatic music and vocal expression, he never wrote
an opera but his songs show a popular, appreciative approach to singing and
text-to-music stylings that are relatable and beautiful in an operatic setting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>Chopin
composed <i>Variations on La ci darem la mano </i>immediately after he attended
the opera Don Giavani in Warsaw at the age of 17 and was mesmerized and
inspired by the renowned duet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>17 Songs </span></i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>displays Chopin’s extraordinary
talent and inventiveness in bringing hand to keyboard. This lyrical score is
personal and conversational—as if he wrote it to share with close friends—and
speaks to Chopin’s appreciation of Polish music and dances, patriotism, love,
and narrative rhythms. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>In its U.S.
debut and on loan from the Warsaw Chamber Opera, <i>Echo in the Woods (Echo w
leslie)</i> is a one-act classical comic opera that was written by Jozef
Elsner, Chopin’s teacher at the Warsaw Conservatory. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;background:white'>Tickets for <i>Chopin
and His Master</i>, available in advance or at the door, are $55 for reserved
sponsor seats, $20 for general admission, and $10 for students. For
additional information, including details about round-trip bus transportation
to the opera from Beachwood Place, visit <a href="http://www.operacircle.org">www.operacircle.org</a>,
email <a href="mailto:operacircle@yahoo.com">operacircle@yahoo.com</a>, or call
216-441-2822. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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