ми з вами / We Are With You

The event will be live streamed on vod.teatrwielki.pl

Proceeds from the event will be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian children, those fleeing their motherland with their mothers, orphans and children in children's homes.

The charity gala is held in partnership with Nasza Fundacja (Our Foundation), a non-profit that had been actively and comprehensively looking after children from children's homes for years, providing them with solid education and helping them to develop their talents and interests, broaden their horizons, grow emotionally, and make a good start into adult life. The ongoing war requires additional engagement, assistance, help, and solidarity on our part, especially with regard to innocent children.

Let us unite with Ukraine with the language of opera and ballet, music and theatre.

The gala will open with a selection of music by three excellent contemporary Ukrainian composers who regularly work with the Polish artistic circles: Lubawa Sydorenko, Zoltan Almashi, and Aleksandr Shymko. The programme includes vocal and instrumental pieces closely connected with Polish culture, written to words of Czesław Miłosz and Halina Poświatowska. They will be performed by Olga Pasichnyk and Agata Zubel. Andriy Yurkevych will conduct the Orchestra of the Polish National Opera.

By giving a platform to the greatest examples of 21st-century Ukrainian music, we wish to underscore the merits and beauty of our neighbours' culture, expressing our respect for their cultural heritage and support for their struggle. Music is a great force. We hope that our Ukrainian friends will feel the closeness of Polish hearts and that this becomes a harbinger of peace and prosperous future for the Ukrainian nation.

The second part of the gala will be a collage of choreographies from the repertoire of the Polish National Ballet. The selection was made with the goal of provoking reflection on the tragic situation of the Ukrainian nation in the face of the aggressor’s bestial invasion.

The ballet showcase will begin with fragments of Krzyszof Pastor’s choreography Kurt Weill with recorded music by the eponymous composer, who was himself  forced to flee growing Nazism in Germany. In this context, his Gebet can be interpreted as a prayer of a man fearful of the peril surrounding him. The dance duet to his music for the play Silbersee evokes the empathic courage of a soldier who risks his own life to help an oppressed man flee through the Silver Lake. The song Wie lange noch? is an emanation of devastating separation caused by war and uncertainty about its length. Such heartbreaking goodbyes are a daily reality in Ukraine. It is also poignant how prophetic Anna Hop's Exodus to music by Wojciech Kilar turned out to be in its eloquent exploration of mass departure in the face of deadly danger. At the same time, a stirring sequence from Krzysztof Pastor's ballet And The Rain Will Pass… to music by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, despite being inspired by Andrzej Wajda's film Kanał (Sewer) about the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, can now be seen as a painful reminder of a universal story.

Ukraine is defending itself, suffering, appealing to the civilised world for help. Will it arrive in time and be sufficient?

This part of the gala will feature: Chinara Alizade, Yuka Ebihara, Paweł Koncewoj, Diogo de Oliveira, Patryk Walczak, Maksim Woitiul, Vladimir Yaroshenko, and almost the entire company of the Polish National Ballet.

All the artists have volunteered their free time to prepare and perform in the show, giving up any compensation for it.

Anonymous authors of medieval songs comprising the Carmina Burana cantata were not Nazis, and neither was Richard Wagner. They were born too early for that. However, zeitgeist works in mysterious ways: Orff (just like Wagner) was a favoured artists among the Nazis, and his name found itself on the Gottbegnadeten-Liste ('God-gifted list' or 'Important Artist Exempt List'). The piece had its world premiere in 1937 and was not particularly appreciated by the critics, but by the Third Reich leaders – very much so. Currently it seems to enjoy popularity among heavy metal bands. Politics aside, music remains the most important thing, after all. Thanks to Boris Kudlička’s visualizations we are transported from a theatre building into space, ready to reach universal values at superluminal velocity. Worth taking the trip!

PROGRAMME:

Part 1

LUBAWA SYDORENKO
Ab Initio (Sypmphony of the beginning)
for symphony orchestra and violin solo
Stanisław Tomanek - violin

STANISŁAW MONIUSZKO
Cossack
words: Jan Czeczot
Olga Pasiecznik - soprano
Lech Napierała - piano

ZOLTAN ALMASHI
A liść uniosą dalej wody rzeczne…
words: Czesław Miłosz

ALEKSANDR SHYMKO
Hymn to Solitude
for soprano and chamber orchestra
words: Halina Poświatowska
Agata Zubel - soprano

Part 2 – Ballet Showcase – prerecorded music

Prayer from the ballet Kurt Weill
choreography: Krzysztof Pastor
music: Kurt Weill
Maksim Woitiul

The Silver Lake from the ballet Kurt Weill
choreography: Krzysztof Pastor
music: Kurt Weill
Diogo de Oliveira, Patryk Walczak

How long more? from the ballet Kurt Weill
choreography: Krzysztof Pastor
music: Kurt Weill
Chinara Alizade, Vladimir Yaroshenko

Exodus from the ballet Exodus
choreography: Anna Hop
music: Wojciech Kilar
soliści i zespół PBN

Requiem from the ballet And The Rain Will Pass...
choreography: Krzysztof Pastor
music: Henryk Mikołaj Górecki
Yuka Ebihara, Paweł Koncewoj and Polish National Ballet dancers 

Polish National Ballet
Orchestra and Chorus and the Polish National Opera

Partner of the event