Polish opera
Romantic opera in Polish flourished alongside nationalism after the partition and is exemplified by the work of Stanisław Moniuszko.
The king himself had no interest in the arts, but his son Władysław IV (reigned 1632-1648) was an enthusiast and patron of opera while he was still a prince.
A dramma per musica (as serious Italian opera was known at the time) entitled Giuditta, based on the Biblical story of Judith, was performed in 1635.
[3] A high point of Polish opera occurred during the reign of the last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, in spite of the political troubles that afflicted the country.
During this time Poland was carved up by its neighbours, Prussia, Austria and Russia, in a series of three Partitions between 1772 and 1795, when the country disappeared off the map of Europe.
Yet culture thrived, a National Theatre was opened in 1779, and it was probably during this era that the first operas in Polish were written, although not even the titles and authors of these pieces are known.
The text of the latter was lost during the January Uprising of 1863 and only rediscovered in 1929 by Leon Schiller (who called it a "Polish national opera").
When Elsner took over the National Theatre in Warsaw, he began to write operas which made use of Polish folk music.
The two began a rivalry which lasted thirteen years until Elsner was removed by the Ruling Committee of the National Theatre at Kurpiński's request.
After this only the comic opera Siedem razy jeden (Seven Times One) and Król Łokietek (King Elbow-High) brought him moderate success.
Elsner had been born in Silesia and his first language was German, leading his critics to deny that he was truly Polish and to accuse him of sympathizing with the foreign invaders.
He was an ardent proponent of Polish opera (by his time there were 300 works in the language in existence), particularly in the first ever account of the national tradition - Die Oper der Polen - published in 1812.
Kurpiński also won acclaim for Nagroda, czyli wskrzeszenie Królestwa Polskiego (The Prize, or the Resurrection of the Kingdom of Poland).
As an ardent patriot and opponent of the foreign occupation, Kurpiński used his music as part of the struggle for independence (just as Giuseppe Verdi did in Italy).
He introduced many works to the Polish stage, including Mozart's Don Giovanni, Spontini's La vestale, Auber's Fra Diavolo, Weber's Der Freischütz and many other operas by Donizetti, Meyerbeer and Rossini.
It has a libretto by Jan Chęciński which is full of allusions to the Polish noble tradition of Sarmatism and pro-independence sentiments, which led to the opera being banned.
Formally, King Roger draws on the tradition of oratorio as it much as it does that of opera; the chorus is a constant presence throughout almost its entire length.
It is a varied work, moving from a style influenced by the singing of the Eastern Orthodox Church to dense chromatic harmony, and is considered the most important Polish opera of the 20th century.
An important composer of the post-war era was Romuald Twardowski who won fame for his operas Cyrano de Bergerac (1963) and Lord Jim (1976).
Other important works were written by Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz (Romans gdański, 1968), Józef Świder (Wit Stwosz, 1974, about the famous woodcarver), Henryk Czyż (Kynolog w rozterce after a play by Sławomir Mrożek, 1967; Inge Bartsch after Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, 1982), Tadeusz Baird (the famous Jutro, based on the short story "Tomorrow" by Joseph Conrad, 1966, which won many European awards and was turned into a film).
Such works include Pierścień wielkiej damy (after Cyprian Norwid) by Ryszard Bukowski, Edward Bogusławski's Sonata Belzebuba (after Witkacy, 1977), Zbigniew Bargielski's Mały Książę (after Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1970) and Krzystof Baculewski's Nowe Wyzwolenie (New Liberation, 1986).
This led to works for the radio by Grażyna Bacewicz (Przygody Króla Artura -The Adventures of King Arthur, 1959), Jerzy Sikorski (Muzyczna opowieść niemalże o końcu świata - A Musical Tale About the End of the World 1958), Tadeusz Szeligowski (Odys płaczący -Odysseus Weeping 1961) and Zbigniew Penherski (Sąd nad Samsonem - Judgement on Samson 1969).
Television operas were also written by Krzystof Meyer (the famous Cyberiad after the science-fiction stories by Stanisław Lem, 1970) and Maciej Małecki (Balladyna, 1999).
The next stage in Penderecki's development was Die schwarze Maske, first performed in Salzburg during The Summer Festival in 1986 to mixed reactions.
The opera received a mixed response: some greeted it with applause and standing ovations, but other members of the audience angrily walked out of the theatre.
Among the latest major Polish operas are Antygona (2001) by Zbigniew Rudziński, Balthazar and The Trap (2011) by Zygmunt Krauze, Ignorant i Szaleniec by Paweł Mykietyn and Madame Curie (2011) by Elżbieta Sikora.
