MONIUSZKO GALA OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA / CONCERT FOR THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF POLAND’S ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

1 May 2024, Wednesday
Time 13:00
The Royal Theatre in the Old Orangery in the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw



FREE ADMISSION

Free entry tickets are available on the website of the Royal Łazienki Museum.

Among the fully preserved opera works composed by Stanisław Moniuszko, two played a special role in shaping Polish national identity – Halka and Straszny dwór. Their high artistic level is equal to that of the achievements of foreign artists, both in terms of shaping captivating vocal parts and using the expressive possibilities of the orchestra. At the same time, the composer weaves in familiar native elements into the musical narrative – either by including polonaise and mazurka rhythms, folk songs, and highlander dances or by taking on current (and universal) socio-political issues.

Stanisław Moniuszko was born in the Russian partition – in Ubiel near Minsk, and educated in Berlin. After settling in Vilnius, he engaged in popularizing musical culture among his compatriots. He gave music lessons, and by publishing subsequent issues of the “Home Songbook”, he celebrated and popularized outstanding Polish poetry. He wrote songs of varying difficulty, intended for home music making, yet at the same time, he dreamed of opera, which ultimately brought him to Warsaw. There, in 1858, the audience was won over by the four-act Halka, and, in 1865, by The Haunted Manor, which was banned by Russian censorship after only three performances. The most famous fragments from these two works will fill the concert program, with which the Polish Royal Opera celebrates the 20th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the European Union, which falls just a few days before the 205th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

PROGRAM

The Polish Anthem

Stanisław Moniuszko
Halka – Ouverture
The Haunted Manor – aria (Cześnikowa) Z tej strony Powiśla
Halka – aria (Jontek) Szumią jodły na gór szczycie
Halka – recitativo and aria (Halka) Ha, dzieciątko nam umiera
Halka – aria (Jontek) I ty mu wierzysz…
The Haunted Manor – recitativo and aria (Stefan) Cisza dokoła…
The Haunted Manor – aria (Hanna) Do grobu trwać w bezżennym stanie
The Haunted Manor – aria (Skołuba) Ten zegar stary
The Haunted Manor – dumka (Jadwiga) Biegnie słuchać w lasy, w knieje
Halka – aria (Halka) Gdyby rannym słonkiem
The Haunted Manor – aria (Miecznik) Kto z mych dziewek

The Anthem of the European Union

PERFORMERS

GABRIELA KAMIŃSKA SOPRANO (HANNA, HALKA)
ANETA ŁUKASZEWICZ MEZZOSOPRANO (CZEŚNIKOWA, JADWIGA)
MATEUSZ ZAJDEL TENOR (STEFAN, JONTEK)
WITOLD ŻOŁĄDKIEWICZ BARITONE (MIECZNIK, JONTEK)
SŁAWOMIR JURCZAK BASS (SKOŁUBA)

THE ORCHESTRA OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA

KAROL SZWECH CONDUCTOR


The concert is part of the event “May Holiday in the Royal Łazienki Park”.
Duration: approx. 60 min
The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.
NOTE: The entrance to the Royal Theatre is located in Agrykola street.