Halka

"Halka" ("Helen") is an opera by the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko. The libretto was by Wlodzimierz Wolski (1824-1882), a young Warsaw poet with radical social views. It is part of the canon of Polish national operas.

Performance history

The first performance of the two-act version was in Vilnius on 1 January 1848. This was staged in Vilnius on 28 February 1854. A four-act version was performed in Warsaw on 1 January 1858. The opera was subsequently produced in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Turkey, Russia and Cuba.

The opera has recently been staged and directed by Krzysztof Jasinski, with musical direction by Wojciech Michniewski, choreography by Emil Wesolowski, with the stage movement devised by Anatol Kocydlowski with The Ballet and Orchestra of the Krakow Opera. The opera has included soloists, such as Ewa Biegas and Maria Mitrosz alternating in the title role, Maciej Komander and Tomasz Kuk as Jontek, Przemyslaw Firek and Janusz Borowicz as the Esquire, Andrzej Biegun and Andrzej Szkurhan as Janusz, and Edyta Piasecka and Joanna Tylkowska as Zofia.

Composition

It is considered one of Moniuszko's greatest operas. The music in Halka is unusually melodic, deeply lyrical and Polish in character. It includes moving poetic arias like "Gdybym rannym slonkiem" / "If by the Morning Sun" and "Szumia jodly" / "Sighing Firs," scenes depicting the life of the Polish gentry and highlanders, as well as spectacular dance sequences. The story is that of the tragic love of the title character, the highlander girl Halka, for the noble Janusz, who abandons her to wed the daughter of the Esquire. It is a tale of jealousy and sacrifice.

Recordings

* Halka: Tatiana Zacharczuk, Władimir Kuzmienko, Zbigniew Macias, Katarzyna Suska, Piotr Nowacki. Antoni Wicherek cond., Soloists, Choir, Ballet and Orchestra of The Great Theatre National Opera in Warsaw. DVD, 2h10m, ZPR Records, 1999
* Halka: Tatiana Borodina, Oleh Lykhach, Aleksandra Buczek, Mariusz Godlewski, Radosław Żukowski, Zbigniew Kryczka, Jacek Ryś, Rafał Majzner, Andrzej Kalinin, Rafał Majzner, Janusz Zawadzki. Ewa Michnik cond., Wrocław Opera Orchestra, Chorus & Ballet. DVD, 2h16m, DUX Recording Producers/Metronome. 2007. Cat. no: DVD DUX 9538, Barcode: 5902547095387

ources

*"The Oxford Dictionary of Opera", by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5