Towards an Alternative Stage History of Stanislaw Moniuszko’s «Halka»: The Performance of «Halka» by the Workers’s Opera in Kraków (1956)

peer-reviewed article

Sławomir Wieczorek

slawomir.wieczorek@uwr.edu.pl
University of Wrocław (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1903-4553

Abstract

This article takes as its starting point the postulate that the stage history of Stanisław Moniuszko’s opera Halka should be revised to include in its historiography also social and political criteria, going beyond the previously adopted artistic and patriotic ones. To illustrate and support this postulate, three radically different forgotten stagings of Halka from the period 1944–1956 are recalled: in the Nazi-occupied Kraków, in the ruined Wrocław, and another one in Kraków, during the final months of Stalinism. This last-named performance, prepared by the Workers’ Opera in Kraków in July 1956, is presented in detail. It was directed by Stanisław Drabik, the initiator of the Workers’ Opera. The article discusses his concept of the staging, its the relation to the famous performances of Halka directed by Leon Schiller, and its critical reception.


Keywords:

Stanisław Moniuszko, «Halka», Stanisław Drabik, socialist realism, Workers’ Opera, music and politics

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Published
2024-09-16

Cited by

Wieczorek, S. (2024) “Towards an Alternative Stage History of Stanislaw Moniuszko’s «Halka»: The Performance of «Halka» by the Workers’s Opera in Kraków (1956)”, Pamiętnik Teatralny, 73(3), pp. 149–164. doi: 10.36744/pt.1967.

Authors

Sławomir Wieczorek 
slawomir.wieczorek@uwr.edu.pl
University of Wrocław Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1903-4553

Sławomir Wieczorek - musicologist and cultural expert, works as an assistant professor at the Institute of Musicology, University of Wrocław. He is interested in contemporary music, the history of 20th century music and the historical soundscape. Editor of the journal Res Facta Nova.



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