Congratulations!
Music by Mieczysław Weinberg · premiered 1983
Congratulations! (Russian: Поздравляем!, romanized: Pozdravlyayem!, Op. 111) is a 1975 opera by Mieczysław Weinberg to his own Russian libretto after the Yiddish play Mazel Tov by Sholem Aleichem. The plot, closely following the text of Sholem Aleichem's play, emphasises the class conflict to placate Soviet censors, for whom otherwise a Jewish topic may have proved problematic. The opera premiered in Moscow in 1983. Present at the premiere was Vladimir Stoupel, who conducted the premiere outside Russia at the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2012.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Congratulations!", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Mieczysław Weinberg (December 8, 1919 – February 26, 1996) was a Polish, Soviet, and Russian composer and pianist. Born in Warsaw to parents who worked in the Yiddish theatre in Poland, his early years were surrounded by music. At the age of 12, he began formal music lessons. Later, he studied piano at the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1939, Weinberg fled Warsaw when Germany invaded Poland and started World War II. His family was later murdered at the Trawniki concentration camp. Weinberg found refuge in the Soviet Union. He established himself successfully in Moscow with support from Dmitri Shostakovich and the Committee on the Arts. Postwar changes in Soviet cultural policy led to increased…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Mieczysław Weinberg", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Mieczysław Weinberg
- Lady Magnesia (1975)