Teatr Narodowy
Encyclopedia
The National Theatre in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, Poland, was founded in 1765, during the Polish Enlightenment, by that country's last monarch, Stanisław August Poniatowski.

History

Opera was brought to Poland by future King Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....

 within twenty years of the first opera presentations in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

. In 1628 he invited the first Italian opera company to Warsaw. Upon ascending the Polish throne in 1632, he built a theatre in his castle, and regular opera performances were produced there by an Italian company directed by Marco Scacchi
Marco Scacchi
Marco Scacchi was an Italian composer and writer on music.Scacchi was born in Gallese, Lazio. He studied under Giovanni Francesco Anerio in Rome. He was associated with the court at Warsaw from 1626, and was kapellmeister there from 1628 to 1649...

.

The first public opera-theater in Poland, the Operalnia in Warsaw, was opened on July 3, 1748. It was located in the Saxon Garden
Saxon Garden
The Saxon Garden is a 15.5–hectare public garden in downtown Warsaw, Poland, facing Piłsudski Square. It is the oldest public park in the city...

 (at today's intersection of Marszałkowska Street of Królewska Street) and functioned under royal patronage. The Operalnia's building was erected in 1725 at the initiative of Augustus II, costing 5000 ducats, as a rectangular structure divided into three parts.

From 1774 on, opera, theatre and ballet performances were held in the Radziwiłł Palace
Presidential Palace, Warsaw
The Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, is the elegant classicist latest version of a building that has stood on the Krakowskie Przedmieście site since 1643. Over the years, it has been rebuilt and remodeled many times...

 (today the official home of Poland's president). The first Polish opera was produced there on 11 July 1778, Maciej Kamieński's Poverty Made Happy, with Wojciech Bogusławski's libretto based on a comedy by Franciszek Bohomolec
Franciszek Bohomolec
Franciszek Bohomolec was a Polish dramatist, linguist, and theatrical reformer who was one of the principal playwrights of the Polish Enlightenment....

.

In 1779-1833 performances took place in a new theatre building on Krasiński Square
Krasiński Square
Krasiński Square is a square in the Śródmieście district of Warsaw, Poland.It was formed at the end of the 18th century from the former courtyard of the Krasiński Palace. During the Congress Poland era, it served as a market place for wool. As a result, two iron wells were built in 1823. In 1838...

, later called the National Theatre). The National Theatre was founded in 1765, during the Polish Enlightenment, by the country's last monarch, Stanisław August Poniatowski. Known as the father of Polish National Theatre, Bogusławski was a renowned actor, singer, director, playwright and entrepreneur. Also, at the National Theatre, from 1785 a troupe of His Majesty's Dancers (headed by ballet masters François Gabriel Le Doux of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and Daniel Curz of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

) became active. At this theatre, on 17 March 1830, Chopin premiered his Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor
Piano Concerto No. 1 (Chopin)
The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, is a piano concerto written by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. It was first performed on 11 October of that year, in Warsaw, with the composer as soloist, during one of his "farewell" concerts before leaving Poland....

, Op. 11. Closed after the November 1830 Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...

, in 1924 the National Theatre was revived under the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

.

Under the Polish People's Republic
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...

(1945–89), the quality of the Theatre's productions was at times adversely affected by government pressures.

External links

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