The Romanian Cultural Institute in Prague joined the EUNIC Bratislava cluster members and the National Slovak Museum - Museum of Jewish Culture in organizing a ceremony concert on the occasion of the opening of the permanent exhibition at the Holocaust Museum in Sereď. The Todes Fuge concert took place on January 26th, 2016, on the eve of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at 7 p.m., in Moyzes Hall (Vajanského nábrežie 70/12, 81102 Bratislava), under the auspices of Mr. Robert Fico, Prime minister of the Slovak Republic, and of Mr. Marek Maďarič, Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republik.
As part of the concert, singerJana Orlická , Prague Jazz Septet, The Chamber Choir in Moravia, conductors Jiří Šimáček and Petr Kořínek performed the Romanian moment Rumenie Rumenie - Yiddish song about our country -, by Aaron Lebedeff. This song dates back to The Golden Era of the Romanian Judaism, i.e. between World War I and Worls War II. During this period, the Jewish theatre knew an unprecedented development, the Jewish culture also thrived, in spite of the discrimination, and the Romanian Jews lived in prosperity and progress.
The Romanian song as well as all the other songs from the programme, were performed in an extraordinary and sensitive manner, and told stories full of emotion. At the end of the concert the guests (220 seats) applauded for minutes. Among them, there was Mr. Robert Fico, Prime minister of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Marek Maďarič, Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republik, mentioned above, His Excellency, Mr. Zvi Aviner Vapni, Ambassador of the State of Israel in the Slovak Republic, Ms. Antonia Grande, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Bratislava and Mr. Pavol Meštan, Director of the Jewish Culture Museum - Slovak National Museum, who held introductory speeches, members of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic, officials and representatives of the Jewish community, diplomatic corps and representatives of the cultural instututions of the host country. The evening ended with a reception.
The presence of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Prague has been welcome. We mention that Romania received the presidency mandate of the Alliance in 2016.
