26 January 2003
Recital offered on newly acquired organ in Catholic church in Brest
Prominent Belarusian musician Igor Olovnikov on January 23 gave a recital on the organ newly acquired by the Holy Cross Exaltation Church in Brest.
The performance, comprising several compositions for the organ and choral preludes by J.S. Bach. Attending the recital were Romuald Kunat, Poland's consulate general in Brest, and local government officials. The instrument was installed on the eve of last year's
Catholic Christmas. The church used to have an organ before, but it disappeared after the Soviet authorities turned the building over to the Local History Museum 50 years ago.
In the early 1990s, when the building was returned to the Catholic community, the then parish priest, Zbigniew Karoljak, began looking for a new organ but failed. Having learned accidentally about a year ago that a church near Munich planned to replace its instrument, his successor, Kazimierz Wielikosielec, asked to hand over the old organ to the Brest church.
Dr. Adolf Hampel, the German theologian who offered the instrument, told the recital audience that this organ was part of his life, as his parents' funerals and his brother's wedding service had been held to its sound. "The organ has brought the spirit of the past into the church," noted Dr. Olovnikov, a professor at the Belarusian State Academy of Music.
http://brestonline.com/en/news/news347.html