I hope in a few weeks' time [...] to send you excerpts from my Halka, which, to spite people of bad will, I am publishing to the eternal memory that there were madmen who wrote Polish operas.

It is hardly surprising to hear the bitter words Stanisław Moniuszko wrote in a letter to his friend Józef Sikorski in 1850. After all, he was perfectly aware of the high value of Halka - today belonging to the iron repertoire of almost every Polish opera theatre and valued as a landmark work in the domestic history of the genre. In 1847, despite preparations for the Warsaw premiere having begun, its score was shelved in the theatre library for a decade.

Włodzimierz Wolski's libretto, based on a folk tale, tells the story of an unhappy and naïve love - that of a simple highland girl and a nobleman. The social and moral motifs of the story were the reason why the opera was accused of having anti-patriotic overtones (due to its sharp criticism of the attitudes of the upper classes) and immoral character. On the other hand, Moniuszko himself emphasised the context of social inequalities by means of musical solutions - he juxtaposed a pompous sound with a motif taken from a folk song, or in the drawing of the melody he hid the additional meaning of the words uttered by the characters... He was certainly aware that the strength of Polishness lies not only in what is noble and Sarmatian, but also in the wealth of symbolism and folk tradition. The fundamental problems contained in the content of the drama are, by the way, universal and remain relevant today. Hence director Wojciech Adamczyk's decision to set the action of Halka in contemporary times.

Director: Wojciech Adamczyk

Cast: Adam Kruszewski/Paweł Czekała as Cześnik, Aleksandra Łaska/Anna Farysej as Zofia, Robert Szpręgiel/ Łukasz Klimczak as Janusz Łukasz Klimczak, Sławomir Jurczak/ Wojtek Gierlach as Marszałek, Małgorzata Trojanowska/Justyna Khil/Natalia Rubiś as Halka, Lukasz Hajduczenia/Kamil Zdebel as Jontek, Polish Opera Vocal Ensemble, Orchestra of the Polish Royal Opera.

Author: Stanislaw Moniuszko
Release date: 2024-02-17
Genre: opera
Scenography: Zuzanna Grzegorowska
Music: Dawid Runtz
Costumes: Maria Balcerek
Duration: 105 min