The Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw.

The Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw.

Opera was brought to Poland just thirty years after it first appeared in Florence, by Royal Prince Ladislaus IV Vasa. In 1628 he invited the first Italian opera troupe to Warsaw. For over 170 years the Teatr Wielki has been Poland’s grandest opera and ballet theatre. It was built in 1825–1833 to a design by the Italian architect Antonio Corazzi of Livorno.The building was converted several times. It was bombed during the siege of Warsaw in 1939 and almost completely ruined. Only the original classicist façade survived.

Stanisława Moniuszko ( Stanislaw Moniuszko ) is regarded as the father of the Polish national opera. His most famous operas are Halka and Straszny Dwór ( The Haunted Manor ). The most prominent Polish composer ot the Romantic era was Fryderyk Chopin ( Frédéric Chopin ) , who composed exclusively for piano.

In 1945–1965 the company performed on other stages while the theatre building was being restored and expanded according to designs by Bohdan Pniewski.The Polish National Opera at the Teatr Wielki continues its over 200-year tradition, producing works by Polish composers as well as world classics.

In 2002 the Teatr Wielki’s façade was crowned with a magnificent sculpture of Apollo’s Quadriga, as originally envisaged by architect Antonio Corazzi 180 years before. The sculpture is a contemporary design by Adam Myjak and Antoni J. Pastwa.

In the 1998–2002 seasons and then again from October 2008, the general director of the Teatr Wielki has been the great culture manager Waldemar Dąbrowski, who was Poland’s minister of culture in 2002–2005. The Polish National Opera’s artistic director is the great stage director Mariusz Treliński, who first occupied the post in the 2005/06 season and was reappointed in October 2008. His opera productions constitute highlights of operatic repertoire not only in Warsaw, but also in Washington, Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Vilnius, and Bratislava.

The National Opera in Warsaw Poland features two auditoriums and a museum:

The Stanisław Moniuszko Auditorium, which seats 1,841, is the primary venue for opera, ballet and theatre performances, which run annually from September through June/July.
The Emil Młynarski Auditorium seats 248.
The Theatre Museum, accommodated in former main-floor ballrooms, is the country’s sole theatre museum.

Polish opera theaters:

The Grand Theatre in Warsaw (Polish: Teatr Wielki w Warszawie) or the Great Theatre—National Opera (Polish: Teatr Wielki—Opera Narodowa) is a theatre complex, opera company, and home of the Polish National Ballet, located on historic Theatre Square in Warsaw, Poland. The Warsaw Grand Theatre is one of the largest theatres in Europe and in the world, with a seating capacity of over 2000.
The Opera Krakowska (Kraków Opera), was founded in 1954 in postwar Kraków, Poland.
Teatr Wielki w Łodzi (The Grand Theater in Łódź) is an opera house in Łódź, Poland.
The Wrocław Opera is an opera company and opera house in Wrocław, Poland. The opera house was opened in 1841 and up to 1945 was known as the Breslau Opera.
Silesian Opera in Bytom (Polish: Opera Śląska w Bytomiu) is an opera company in Bytom, Silesia, Poland, that was founded in 1945. Its home is the former City Theatre that was built between 1898-1901. Adamo Didur was the first artistic director.
Grand Theatre, Poznań (Polish: Teatr Wielki im. Stanisława Moniuszki w Poznaniu) is a neoclassical opera house located in Poznań, Poland. It is named after famous Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko.
The Opera Nova is an opera house located in Bydgoszcz and established in 1956, which also plays the role of a musical theater. It is one of the 10 opera houses in Poland and the only one of this size in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Opera Nova also welcomes the scene of the Bydgoszcz Buratino Puppet Theatre.
Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic – European Art Center in Białystok – currently the largest artistic institution in north-eastern Poland and the most modern cultural center in this part of Europe.