Fantasy Opera
Music, Story and Libretto by Alla Sirenko
Site design - Paul Cascarino
Pictures and history
Alla's inspiration for "The Golden Penguin" came to her after a concert tour through Queensland Australia a few years ago. The magic
of the rain forest had inspired her to write some beautiful and romantic music to reflect her memories. As a contrast for the natural
habitants of the rain forest she decided to write a story of a fairytale penguin, who lived and was learning to fly in a warm, tropical
country, called The Country of Eternal Spring.
Throughout Alla's childhood she would often go to see different productions in the beautiful opera theatre in her home town
of Lviv. She has especially fond memories of the productions and music of the ballets of Tchaicovskiy, which she had been
familiar with from the age of only 4! Since then one of her ambitions has been to write a beautiful, high standard of music
and a story for children - one which might be remembered for bringing kindness and beauty to children's hearts. The idea of
devotion and friendship is very important to Alla and she brought this to her Opera. She was lucky to meet a real (Blue)
penguin in the wild in New Zealand and mysteriously he even let her stroke his feathers! This was the inspiration for her to
compose this delightful opera.
Since the Covent Garden premiere of 'The Golden Penguin' it has been included in the main repertoire of The Lviv State
Opera and Ballet Theatre (Ukraine), where is expected it will continue to be performed to capacity audiences for at least the
next ten years.
