Kraków Opera
Kraków Artists: Music
An opera house operating as an institution since 1954, with a building at Lubicz Street 48 constructed in 2004-2008; the grand opening took place on 13 December 2008. Earlier, performances were given in the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, and the operetta repertoire in the hall of the Soldiers' House on Lubicz Street. Kraków's ties with opera go back to 1628, when one of the printing houses below Wawel published the first opera libretto in Polish, a translation of Ferdinando Saracinelli's text "The Rescue of Ruggiero from the Island of Alcina". In 2014 the opera had about 90,000 visitors.
History
The Kraków Opera has operated as an institution since 1954. That year the Society of Friends of the Opera created a new company made up of musicians from the Kraków Philharmonic and graduates of the Vocal Department of the State Higher School of Music. The first performance, on 13 October 1954, was Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto". Operas were staged at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, and the operetta repertoire in the hall of the Soldier's House on Lubicz Street. In 1958 the companies were merged into the Municipal Musical Theatre, and the institution has had its present name since 2002.
Earlier attempts were often short-lived. The first public opera performance in Kraków, Grétry's "Zémire et Azor", took place in March 1782. In 1914, on the initiative of Bolesław Wallek-Walewski, the Kraków Opera Society was founded; it staged operas and operettas in 1915-1938, with a break in 1924-1930.
The new building at 48 Lubicz Street came out of a competition announced in 2002, won by the team of the architect Romuald Loegler with Piotr Urbanowicz and Grzegorz Dresler. Construction took place in 2004-2008. A historic riding hall from the early 20th century, with a semicircular roof, was incorporated into the new building: it holds the main entrance, ticket offices and cloakrooms, and on the first floor a foyer with a restaurant. The auditorium seats 764. The building opened on 13 December 2008 with the premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's opera "The Devils of Loudun", directed by Laco Adamik. In front of the entrance stands Igor Mitoraj's bronze sculpture "The Birth of Eros", unveiled in 2009.
Did you know?
Kraków's links with opera go back to 1628. That year one of the printing houses below Wawel published the first Polish opera libretto, a translation of Ferdinando Saracinelli's "The Liberation of Ruggiero from the Island of Alcina", for which Francesca Caccini had written the music three years earlier.