Grand Theatre in Łódź will stage Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka. The production directed by Jarosław Kilian will be premiered on January 21, 2017.
The choice of a premiere date was no coincidence as the beginning of year 2017 marks an anniversary of the Theatre’s new building at Dąbrowskiego Square - it was opened on January 19, 1967. On Saturday evening, the artists will be conducted by Wojciech Rodek.
The first version of this work, written to a libretto by Włodzimierz Wolski, was completed in 1848. In 1858, its revised version comprising 4 acts was premiered. "Moniuszko in his works tried to combine Western European Romanticism with the spirit of the Polish culture. Halka is without a doubt an example of successful combination of features of Italian, French and German opera with elements typical for Polish folklore and music tradition. (…) Thanks to its patriotic and social significance, it became 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 sustained 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". (source: www.operalodz.com)
Tickets available on-line at: www.bilety24.pl