Polish Wedding is a work by the Polish-Jewish composer Joseph Beer. It premiered on 3 April 1937 in Zurich and was enthusiastically received by the audience. The success of Polish Wedding is reflected in the number of performances following its premiere – the operetta was staged at forty of the most important opera houses and translated into eight languages.
The first critical responses are also noteworthy. According to one journalist from the Zürcher Tagesanzeiger in 1937 ,,(…) this is music that is not only pleasant, but seeps into the bloodstream, captivating the listener with its wealth of ideas, vivid illustrative power, and above all its excellent dance rhythms (…)”. Despite such favorable reviews, after the nazis seized power in Austria, Polish Wedding was placed on the list of banned works, and the composer, who was then living in Austria, was forced into exile.
The work presents a love story and a wedding intrigue in a remarkably original musical setting. Beer combines elements of folklore, jazz, and Romantic song, giving them a distinctive and eclectically coherent color. After years of oblivion, Polish Wedding is gradually returning to European opera stages, reclaiming its rightful place in the history of twentieth-century music.
Director of the Wrocław Opera
Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny
Musical Director / Conductor
Łukasz Borowicz
Stage Director
Paweł Miśkiewicz
Adaptation and Dramaturgy
Daria Kubisiak
Adaptation and Dramaturgy
Maćko Prusak
Set Design
Barbara Hanicka
Costume Design and Set Design Collaboration
Marta Szypulska
Costume Design Collaboration
Kacper Łyszczarz
Lighting Director
Marek Kozakiewicz
Multimedia Projections
Marek Kozakiewicz
Multimedia Animation
Oliwia Szanajca-Kossakowska
Choir Director
Anna Grabowska-Borys
Ballet Director
Małgorzata Dzierżon
Assistant Conductors
Szymon Naściszewski / Natalia Nicowska
Assistant Directors
Hanna Marsza-Fiugajska / Bartosz Śmigielski
Assistant Choreographers
Anna Szopa-Kimso / Piotr Oleksiak
Technical Producer
Maciej Węglarz
Producer
Jacek Rzempołuch/Iwona Handzlik
Soloists Preparation
Ashot Drnayan-Babrouski
Soloists’ Repetiteurs
Anita Tashkinova / Katarzyna Neugebauer-Jastrzębska / Ivan Zhukov
Stage Managers
Adam Frontczak / Patrycja Kuruc
Polish Translation of the Libretto
Dorota Krzywicka-Kaindel
English Translation of the Libretto
Dorota Sawka
Baron Mietek Ogiński – Jerzy Butryn
Jadzia – Monika Radecka
Count Staszek Zagórski – Grzegorz Szostak
Count Bolesław Zagórski – Piotr Buszewski
Zuza – Marta Wiktorzak
Kazimierz von Kawiecki – Hubert Zapiór
Mazurkiewicz – Marcin Klarman
Sergiusz Korozow – Sebastian Rutkowski
Tsarist Second Lieutenant – Jerzy Szlachcic
Władek – Michał Zborowski
Zdenka – Kinga Mazurkiewicz-Pala
Stasia – Katarzyna Toboła
Stefek – Rafał Romanicz
Wacek – Daniel Babuśka
Bridesmaids (former wives of Count Staszek) – Ewa Kaim, Canan Kalkir, Beata Marciniak, Liliana Jędrzejczak, Anna Krzyżowska-Kawałko
Girls – Nicola Jamrozik, Urszula Czupryńska, Marika Gryń, Liliana Jędrzejczak, Sabina Szkwarek
Peasants – Andrzej Zborowski, Piotr Bunzler
Wrocław Opera Choir
Wrocław Opera Ballet
Wrocław Opera Orchestra
Andrzej Jagodziński Trio
