Appeal to grant the Warsaw Chamber Opera the status of a National Cultural Institution

To: Mr Bogdan Zdrojewski -Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prime Minister - Mr Donald Tusk Ministry of Culture and National Heritage ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 15/17 00-071 Warszawa tel. (22) 42 10 100 Dear Minister, I have read the dramatic interview with the director of the Warsaw Chamber Opera, who, in light of the impossibility of resolving the problem of the Warsaw Chamber Opera and the lack of good will on the part of the Marshal’s Office, was thinking of tendering his resignation. This afternoon, however, I learned that the founder of the Warsaw Chamber Opera, Stefan Sutkowski, a pre-eminent artist and the guarantor of the highest standards at the institution he has run for half a century, has submitted his resignation to Marshal Adam Struzik. The fact that the Marshal’s Office has brought about this act of desperation moves me to draught another petition – this time, Minister, to you. I hereby address you, Minister, as a person – perhaps the only person – at the summit of power who understands the need for high culture. My appeal to Marshal Adam Struzik to enable one of the most distinguished Warsaw theatre companies to function in a manner befitting its status was signed by 5000 people. Despite the support of so many signatories, it has yet to receive a reply, whilst today’s information in the press shows that Marshal Struzik has no intention of assisting the Warsaw Chamber Opera and revising his decision concerning the financing of the WCO. In this connection, I appeal to you, Minister, to place the Warsaw Chamber Opera under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and grant it the status of a National Cultural Institution. The Warsaw Chamber Opera, founded and run since the very beginning by director Stefan Sutkowski, has proved, over the fifty years of its existence, that it is worthy of such a status. It is one of the most prominent music theatre companies not just in Poland but around the world, as can be gauged from numerous publications in the most prestigious cultural periodicals, scholarly works and the presence of musicians nurtured by the WCO on the foremost musical stages in the world. This all gives you cause, Minister, to take the initiative of placing the WCO under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and awarding this exceptionally valuable music theatre company the status of a national cultural institution. I cannot imagine that, as a guardian of Polish national culture, you could allow the destruction of fifty years’ work by an institution which has forged an enduring place for itself in what we call Polish national culture. Tadeusz Deszkiewicz Undersigned: Tadeusz Deszkiewicz 02-927 Warszawa tadesz@wa.onet.pl