The Grand Theatre in Łódź will present the premiere of a new production of Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka on January 21, to celebrate the anniversary of the stage production as well as the 50th anniversary of the theatre, which opened on January 19, 1967. The Polish opera will be directed by Jarosław Kilian, conducted by Wojciech Rodek, and performed from January 21 – 29.
The first version of Halka, with a written libretto by Włodzimierz Wolski, was completed in 1848. In 1858, its revised version comprising 4 acts was premiered. Moniuszko’s adaptation of the work is described as “a successful combination of features of Italian, French and German opera with elements typical for Polish folklore and music tradition, [leading it to become] an expression of Polish national identity. In order to understand this opera story about an abandoned girl, we have to set it in the right context – of a social discord, which at Moniuszko’s time led to the Gallician slaughter. Halka is a young woman suspended between two worlds: of the immoral nobility and vengeful highlanders. There are no unambiguously bad or good characters here. It is not a tearful melodrama. It is a cruel parable of human loneliness.”
January 21, 22, 24 – 29, 2017
Moniuszko’s HALKA
Łódź Grand Theatre
Plac Dąbrowskiego, 90-249 Łódź, Poland
Admission: 50 – 28 PLN
Tickets & Info: operalodz.com
[Source: polmic.pl, operalodz.com]