Great Theater, Warsaw

Infobox Historic building

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caption=The restored "Teatr Wielki"
name=Great Theater
location_town=Warsaw
location_country=Poland
architect=Antonio Corazzi
client=
engineer=
construction_start_date=1825
completion_date=1833
date_demolished=1939
cost=
structural_system=
style=Neoclassical|The Great Theater in Warsaw (Polish: "Teatr Wielki"; now the "Great Theater and Polish National Opera") is a theater complex and opera company located on historic Theater Square ("Plac Teatralny") in Warsaw, Poland.

The theater was inaugurated on February 24, 1833, with a production of Rossini's "Il barbiere di Siviglia". Since the building's bombing and near-complete destruction in World War II, the theater has been rebuilt, and the building reopened on November 19, 1965, after having been closed for over twenty years.

Facilities at the National Opera

The National Opera features two auditoriums and a museum:

* The Stanisław Moniuszko Auditorium , which seats 1,841, is the primary venue for opera, ballet and theater performances, which run annually from October through June.

* The Emil Młynarski Auditorium seats 248.

* The National Museum, accommodated in former main-floor ballrooms, is the country’s sole theater museum.

Before the building stand two statues by Jan Szczepkowski, of Wojciech Bogusławski, the father of Polish National Theater, and of Stanisław Moniuszko, the father of Polish National Opera.

Earlier Warsaw opera

Opera was brought to Poland by future King Władysław IV Vasa within twenty years of the first opera presentations in Florence. In 1628 he invited the first Italian opera company to Warsaw. Upon ascending the Polish throne in 1632, he built a theater in his castle, and regular opera performances were produced there by an Italian company directed by Marco Scacchi.

From 1774 on, opera, theater and ballet performances were held in the Radziwill Mansion (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 Boguslawski's libretto based on a comedy by Franciszek Bohomolec. In 1779-1833 performances took place in a new theater building on Krasiński Square, later called the National Theater. Known as the father of Polish National Theater, Boguslawski was a renowned actor, singer, director, playwright and entrepreneur. Also, at the National Theater, from 1785 a troupe of His Majesty's Dancers (headed by ballet masters François Gabriel Le Doux of Paris and Daniel Curz of Venice) became active.

ince 1833

The Theater was built on Theater Square between 1825 and 1833, replacing former building of Marywil, from Polish classicist designs by the Italian architect Antonio Corazzi of Livorno, to provide a new performance venue for existing opera, ballet and drama companies active in Warsaw. The building was remodeled several times and, in the period of Poland's political eclipse from 1795 to 1918, it performed an important cultural and political role in producing many works by Polish composers and choreographers.

Evolution of Polish opera

It was in the new theater that Stanislaw Moniuszko's two best-known operas received their premieres: the complete version of "Halka" (1858), and "The Haunted Manor" (1865). After Chopin, Moniuszko was the greatest figure in 19th-century Polish music, for in addition to producing his own works, he was director of the Warsaw Opera from 1858 until his death in 1872. While director of the Great Theater, Moniuszko composed "The Countess", "Verbum Nobile", "The Haunted Manor" and "Paria", and many songs that make up 12 "Polish Songbooks".

Also, under Moniuszko's direction, the wooden Summer Theater (seating 1,065) was built close by in the Saxon Garden. Summer performances were given annually, from the repertories of the Great and Variety ("Rozmaitości") theaters.
Józef Szczublewski writes that during this time, even though the country had been partitioned out of political existence by its neighbors, the theater flourished: "the ballet roused the admiration of foreign visitors; there was no equal troupe of comedians to be found between Warsaw and Paris, and Modrzejewska was an inspiration to drama."

The theater presented operas by Władysław Żeleński, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski and other Polish composers, as well as ballet productions designed by such choreographers as Roman Turczynowicz, Piotr Zajlich and Feliks Parnell. At the same time, the repertoire included major world opera and ballet classics, performed by the most prominent Polish and foreign singers and dancers. It was also here that the Italian choreographer Virgilius Calori produced "Pan Twardowski" (1874), which (in the musical arrangement first of Adolf Sonnenfeld and then of Ludomir Różycki) has for years been part of the ballet company's repertoire.

During the 1939 battle of Warsaw, the Great Theater was bombed and almost completely destroyed, with only the classical façade surviving.en icon cite web |author = |url = http://www.teatrwielki.pl/show_book.php?book=historia&nlang=en |title = The Theatre's history |work = www.teatrwielki.pl |publisher = |pages = |page = |date = 1998 |accessdate = 2008-02-21] During the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 the Germans shot civilians in the burnt-out ruins. The plaque to the right of the main entrance commemorates the suffering and heroism of the victims of fascism.

Building's restoration

Between 1945 and 1965, the company performed on other stages while the theater building was being restored and expanded to the designs of Bohdan Pniewski, under the supervision of Arnold Szyfman. When the restored theater was opened to the public on November 19, 1965, it was one of the most imposing and best-equipped state-of-the-art theaters in Europe.

Completion of façade

According to Antonio Corazzi's 1825 plans, the Great Theater's front façade was supposed to have featured a triumphal sculpture of Apollo, patron of the arts, driving a chariot drawn by four horses. However, the defeat of the November Uprising caused the idea to be abandoned, and the pedestal atop the main façade remained empty for nearly 200 years.

Finally, in 2002, at the initiative of the Great Theater's then general director, Waldemar Dąbrowski, the sculpture that had been envisioned many years earlier came to adorn the façade. The new, contemporary quadriga was designed by professors at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, the rector, Adam Myjak, and the dean of the sculpture department, Antoni Janusz Pastwa. The sculpture was unveiled by Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski on May 3, 2002, to mark Constitution Day.

The Company today

For 170 years the Great Theater (now "the Great Theater and Polish National Opera") has been Poland's grandest opera and ballet institution.

* Opera: The Polish National Opera at the Great Theater continues its 200-year tradition, producing works by Polish composers from Karol Kurpiński, through Stanisław Moniuszko, to Krzysztof Penderecki. However, classic operas are also well represented: the company's repertoire includes the best operas by the major figures of opera, past and present.

* Ballet: The Warsaw Ballet Company has worked with major international figures in the world of ballet as well as with many Polish choreographers, such as Leon Woizikovsky, Stanisław Miszczyk, Witold Gruca and Emil Wesołowski.

The Great Theater plans to inaugurate each new opera season with a Moniuszko Gala in honor of the composer and historic Opera Company director.

References

::In-line:::General:
# cite book | author = Józef Szczublewski | coauthors = | title = Teatr Wielki w Warszawie, 1833-1993 (Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, 1833-1993) | year = 1993 | editor = | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher = | location =Warsaw | id = | url = | format = | accessdate =

ee also

*National Theater, Warsaw
*Marywil
*Wojciech Bogusławski
*Stanisław Moniuszko

External links

* [http://www.teatrwielki.pl/ Teatr Wielki's official website, in English and Polish, with Virtual Tour]