Kraków Chamber Opera
Kraków Artists: Music
A chamber opera theatre in a townhouse at Miodowa Street 15 in Kazimierz, founded in 2000 by Wacław Jankowski and Jadwiga Leśniak-Jankowska as a continuation of the El-Jot Theatre, which had operated on this site since 1991. It specialises in early repertoire, Baroque and Classical, as well as musical spectacles, mystery plays and oratorios; since 2011 an Opera Puppet Theatre has also run here. The 1896 townhouse, entered in the Register of Monuments of Kraków, was designed by Beniamin Torbe, and the theatre hall, set in the cellars to a design by Wojciech Obtułowicz, opened on 18 June 2000.
History
The Kraków Chamber Opera is based in a tenement house at Miodowa Street 15 in Kazimierz. It was founded in 2000 by a married couple: Wacław Jankowski, an opera and theatre director, and Jadwiga Leśniak-Jankowska, a choreographer and actress. The theatre continues the work of Kraków's El-Jot Theatre, which had been working here since 1991. It specialises in early repertoire, meaning Baroque and Classical works, as well as musical shows, mystery plays and oratorios. In 2011 it added the Opera Puppet Theatre, where puppets and masks play a full part alongside singers, actors and dancers. The theatre works with Kraków's arts colleges, and their students perform in the productions on Miodowa Street.
The tenement, listed in the Register of Historic Monuments of Kraków, was built in 1896 to a design by Beniamin Torbe. In 1912 it was remodelled by Ludwik Gutman, and it was not damaged during the Second World War. The theatre hall was created in the cellars to a design by Wojciech Obtułowicz and opened on 18 June 2000. The stage is on two levels, and the audience surrounds it in a gallery.
Did you know?
The company's productions have also been seen away from its own stage, including at the Popper Synagogue (1994), the Bernardine church (2005) and the Royal Castle in Niepołomice (2006).