Opera Krakowska
Encyclopedia
The Opera Krakowska located at Lubicz 48 Street in Kraków
, Poland
, was founded in 1954. The company stages 200 performances each year, including ballet
, operetta
s and musical
s for the young, with an audience occupancy rate of 98%. The Kraków Opera's main repertoire includes both international and Polish operatic classics, reaffirming its status as one of the country's leading opera companies. The long list of names of renowned artists associated with it includes conductors such as Kazimierz Kord
, Robert Satanowski
, Jan Latham-Koenig and Aurelio Canonici
; set designers such as Tadeusz Kantor
, Lidia Zamkow
, Józef Szajna
, Krystyna Zachwatowicz
; and a plethora of singers, many of whom began their careers there, including Teresa Żylis-Gara
and Wiesław Ochman.
The building of the new opera house was more expensive than originally thought. The ensuing dispute between the designer and the contractor who requested additional funds lasted for over two years. Among the reasons offered were the curtain walls for the office complex next door as well as the structural protection of other neighboring buildings. Romuald Loegler, designer of the opera, wrote letters attesting to his disagreement with the general contractor – Hochtief
company Poland – whose director refused to talk to the media sending questions to general manager of the company, Piotr Rozkruta. The dispute reached the Department of Education and Culture in Kraków's city government until a special consultant was appointed by the province. The building costs rose about 10 %; however, the financing of the project was never in danger, as explained by Krzysztof Markiel, the head of the Department.
Courtyard of the Niepołomice Castle
in 2002 and 2003; Madame Butterfly was staged in the depths of the centuries-old Wieliczka Salt Mine in 2003, while Tosca
by Puccini and Straszny Dwór (The Haunted Manor) by Stanisław Moniuszko
were performed against the arresting background of the Wawel Royal Castle in 2005. The open-air performances included Halka
, offered at the Zakrzówek Nature Park in 2004; it was recognized by the some critics as the most important event of the entire season. More than five thousand people saw that opera. In the summertime, the Kraków Opera also used the open-air stage at the Kraków's Barbakan. The visual significance of the location enriched the impact of operatic music not only for the regular patrons, but also for the numerous tourists.
World famous soloists have visited the Kraków Opera's stage, including singers from the Metropolitan Opera
in New York
and La Scala
in Milan
. A number of noted Polish singers also performed there. The company's performers travel abroad every year to participate in special events and festivals in the Netherlands, Germany
, France
, Italy
, Switzerland
, England
, United States
and as far as Chile
.
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, was founded in 1954. The company stages 200 performances each year, including ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s and musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s for the young, with an audience occupancy rate of 98%. The Kraków Opera's main repertoire includes both international and Polish operatic classics, reaffirming its status as one of the country's leading opera companies. The long list of names of renowned artists associated with it includes conductors such as Kazimierz Kord
Kazimierz Kord
Kazimierz Kord is a Polish conductor. Between 1939 and 1945, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków....
, Robert Satanowski
Robert Satanowski
Robert Satanowski was a Polish conductor and general.A teacher with a background in engineering, during World War II he joined the Soviet-aligned Polish resistance in Volhynia where he became a leader of his own group of partisans. Later he joined the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, where he reached the...
, Jan Latham-Koenig and Aurelio Canonici
Aurelio Canonici
Aurelio Canonici is an Italian conductor and composer.Canonici studied piano and composition at the Conservatorio Nicolò Paganini in Genoa and specialized in orchestra conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna from 1992 to 1995.The most important orchestras he has conducted include the...
; set designers such as Tadeusz Kantor
Tadeusz Kantor
Tadeusz Kantor was a Polish painter, assemblage artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad.- Life and career :...
, Lidia Zamkow
Lidia Zamkow
Lidia Zamkow was a Polish theatre actress and director.- Biography :Lidia Zamkow was born on June 19 or July 15 , 1918 in Rostov-on-Don...
, Józef Szajna
Józef Szajna
Józef Szajna was a Polish scenery designer, stage director, playwright, theoretician of the theatre, painter and graphic artist.During the Second World War and occupation of Poland, Szajna was a prisoner of the German concentration camps Auschwitz and Buchenwald.-Further reading:* Archives and art...
, Krystyna Zachwatowicz
Krystyna Zachwatowicz
Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda , born Krystyna Zachwatowicz, is a Polish scenographer, costume designer and actress. She is a daughter of architect and restorer Jan Zachwatowicz and Maria Chodźko h. Kościesza, and wife of film director Andrzej Wajda. Member of the Polish Film Academy. She is a...
; and a plethora of singers, many of whom began their careers there, including Teresa Żylis-Gara
Teresa Zylis-Gara
Teresa Żylis-Gara is a Polish operatic soprano who had a major international career during the 1950s through the 1990s...
and Wiesław Ochman.
The new venue
For dozens of years, the Kraków Opera lacked its own premises and instead used a number of venues in the city. The only permanent venue where opera performances were staged for decades was the landmark Słowacki Theatre in the heart of the city. The construction of the new opera house which can seat 760 people started in 2004. The new house opened in the autumn of 2008.The building of the new opera house was more expensive than originally thought. The ensuing dispute between the designer and the contractor who requested additional funds lasted for over two years. Among the reasons offered were the curtain walls for the office complex next door as well as the structural protection of other neighboring buildings. Romuald Loegler, designer of the opera, wrote letters attesting to his disagreement with the general contractor – Hochtief
Hochtief
Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft is Germany's largest construction company. It is based in Essen but operates globally, ranking as the top general builder in the United States through its Turner Corporation subsidiary, and in Australia through the Leighton Group. In 2010 it employed more than 70,000...
company Poland – whose director refused to talk to the media sending questions to general manager of the company, Piotr Rozkruta. The dispute reached the Department of Education and Culture in Kraków's city government until a special consultant was appointed by the province. The building costs rose about 10 %; however, the financing of the project was never in danger, as explained by Krzysztof Markiel, the head of the Department.
Cultural significance
Long before the new opera house was unveiled, the Kraków Opera utilized historical interiors and landmark architecture in Kraków, as well as other cities, for staging its own performances. Groundbreaking productions in natural settings included the Straszny Dwór opera performance at the RenaissanceRenaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
Courtyard of the Niepołomice Castle
Niepołomice Castle
The Niepołomice Royal Castle is a Gothic castle from the mid-14th century, rebuilt in the late Renaissance style and called the second Wawel. It is situated in Niepołomice, Poland.-History:...
in 2002 and 2003; Madame Butterfly was staged in the depths of the centuries-old Wieliczka Salt Mine in 2003, while Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
by Puccini and Straszny Dwór (The Haunted Manor) by Stanisław Moniuszko
Stanisław Moniuszko
Stanisław Moniuszko was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. His output includes many songs and operas, and his musical style is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
were performed against the arresting background of the Wawel Royal Castle in 2005. The open-air performances included Halka
Halka
Halka is an opera by the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko. The libretto was by Wlodzimierz Wolski , a young Warsaw poet with radical social views. It is part of the canon of Polish national operas.-Performance history:...
, offered at the Zakrzówek Nature Park in 2004; it was recognized by the some critics as the most important event of the entire season. More than five thousand people saw that opera. In the summertime, the Kraków Opera also used the open-air stage at the Kraków's Barbakan. The visual significance of the location enriched the impact of operatic music not only for the regular patrons, but also for the numerous tourists.
World famous soloists have visited the Kraków Opera's stage, including singers from the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. A number of noted Polish singers also performed there. The company's performers travel abroad every year to participate in special events and festivals in the Netherlands, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and as far as Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.