HISTORY IN OPERA, OR THE CHARACTERS OF RULERS IN THE OPERAS 'JADWIGA KRÓLOWA POLSKA' BY KAROL KURPINSKI (1814) AND 'KRÓL LOKIETEK' BY JÓZEF ELSNER (1818)

• Authors: Zorawska-Witkowska A.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Historical themes in Polish opera (whose beginnings go back to 1778) appeared and began to flourish only in the first decade of the nineteenth century. The main reason for this was the political perturbations of a nation which, although deprived of its own state after 1795, attempted in spite of all the odds to participate in the politics of the great powers and to fight for at least a degree of autonomy. Thus the plots of these operas, staged mainly at the National Theatre in Warsaw, either looked back to the brilliant past of the nation, or illustrated the current, and usually minor, military successes of Poles, in order to strengthen the patriotic mood. The majority of these works, usually put together in a hurry, very quickly lost their relevance to the extremely changeable current political situations, and performances ceased almost immediately after the premiere. It was not until the second decade of the century that two works achieved the status of operas of exceptional quality, 'toutes proportions gardées', both in their artistic layer and in the public response to them. These were: 'Jadwiga królowa Polski' [Jadwiga, Queen of Poland] - with a libretto by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and music by Karol Kurpinski, which had its first performance in Warsaw on 23 December 1814, and 'Król Lokietek, czyli Wisliczanki' (King Wladyslaw the Short and the Peasant Girls of Wislica) - with a libretto by Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski and music by Józef Elsner, with its first performance in Warsaw on 3 April 1818. The first of these operas is an ambitious attempt, isolated in Poland and decidedly belated in relation to the rest of Europe, at establishing a dialogue with the genre of Metastasian dramma per musica. The second work is in the genre of comic opera set in the tradition of Polish 'rustic opera', an opera which takes place in the country and has a country wedding as its background (thus providing the opportunity for including numerous cracoviennes, mazurkas and polonaises). The paper looks at the political topicality of the themes undertaken in both works, examines the historical accuracy of the operatic images of both these medieval rulers, Jadwiga (1374-99) and her great grandfather Wladyslaw Lokietek (1259/60-1333) when compared to the chroniclers' accounts (Jadwiga) and the historical legend (Lokietek), sketches their significance as social icons and describes their musical images. Both operas discussed here played a large and extremely valuable part in awakening and strengthening the national spirit of the people at a time of fundamental importance to the nation. 'Jadwiga' became one of the greatest achievements among Polish compositions of that period, and parts of it can successfully withstand competition with the works of prominent Italian artists of the day. 'Lokietek' is a local phenomenon, which became the model for a whole constellation of works - perhaps artistically average, but serving an important social function in providing not only entertainment, but also nourishment for patriotic feelings.

Keywords

EN

ELSNER JÓZEF; HISTORICAL OPERA; KURPINSKI KAROL; POLISH NATIONAL OPERA; RUSTIC OPERA

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Sztuki PAN
• Journal: Muzyka
• Year: 2005
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 3(198)
• Pages: 57-88
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Zorawska-Witkowska A.

• A. Zorawska-Witkowska, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Instytut Muzykologii, ul. Krakowskie Przedmiescie 32, 02-325 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

06PLAAAA01052421