Emanuel Honors Paderewski Symphony Orchestra

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel released the following statement as submitted to the Congressional Record honoring the Paderewski Symphony Orchestra’s February 2007 Production of Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Opera, The Haunted Manor.

            “Madam Speaker, on behalf of the more than 110,000 Polish and Polish-American constituents of my district, as well as those of Polish descent around the country, I rise today to honor the late Polish composer Stanislaw Moniuszko. On February 10th and 11th, the Paderewski Symphony Orchestra will perform Poland’s national opera, The Haunted Manor, for audiences at the Rosemont Theater. 

            “Considered the father of Polish opera, Moniuszko was born in the spring of 1819 to a patriotic family of Polish landowners living on the eastern edge of partitioned Poland. Revealing a passion for music at an early age, he began taking private piano lessons while still very young. In 1837, Moniuszko traveled to Berlin where he studied composition and choral conducting. By 1840, the young artist had already composed several operas as well as sacred music and secular cantatas.

            “Moniuszko became well-known for his many songs, operas and ballets filled with patriotic and Polish folk themes. His music is quite stylistically distinct while incorporating various national motifs including certain Polish dances and folk tunes.

            “To this day, Moniuszko is considered one of Poland’s great composers. One of his most famous operas is Straszny Dwor, or The Haunted Manor. In it, Moniuszko depicts Polish nobility and gentry while emphasizing Polish customs and traditions. The comic opera is claimed as Poland’s national opera, as it encompasses different levels of society, and it has a vitality that speaks to everyone. 

            “During his professional life, Moniuszko traveled numerous times to St. Petersburg to give concerts, so it is fitting that his works are traveling across the ocean to be performed by the Paderewski Symphony Orchestra of the Fifth Congressional District of Illinois.

            “Madam Speaker, I am honored to recognize Moniuszko and honor his success, as well as to commend the Paderewski Symphony Orchestra for bringing this important part of Poland’s history to the Polish and Polish-American communities in the United States.”