Thinking about the most famous Romantic operas of the final decades of the nineteenth century, any opera lover will readily recall the great names of Italian and French composers: Verdi, Puccini, Massenet, and many others. They left a legacy of works whose popularity has not waned despite the passage of time. Singers all over the world dream of appearing in productions of their operas. And no wonder: their famous scores contain the most beautiful arias, allowing singers to showcase their vocal artistry and fully express their dramatic potential. Paris and Milan, and later Vienna as well, were considered the centres of the operatic world at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But what was the situation in Eastern Europe? Is it possible that audiences in the region did not value opera and remained indifferent to the magic of performances in which every element – music, text, stage design, stage action – has an impact on the audience, stirring their emotions and imagination? Or maybe composers on the eastern fringes of the continent lacked the talent or technical skill to tackle what is perhaps the most complex of musical forms? Nothing could be further from the truth.

While the hearts of Italian and French audiences were being won over by Adriana Lecouvreur, Madama Butterfly, and Andrea Chénier, and composers increasingly embraced verismo, moving away from mythical settings, aristocratic heroes, and palace interiors,1 audiences in Eastern European opera houses also had plenty to be excited about. Roman Statkowski’s opera Maria, while clearly influenced by Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, is distinguished by a distinctly Polish character, as well as references to Ukrainian folklore – the tragic story of its protagonists takes place in the seventeenth century near the eastern borders of Poland.2

Its rich melodic layer and instrumentation, together with its dramatic power, invite us to rediscover this forgotten work and its creator. Henryk Jarecki, best known for his work as a conductor in Lviv, left a substantial body of compositions, including four major operas on historical themes. Fascinated by the multicultural heritage of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the composer dedicated his opera Mindowe to a Lithuanian king. Jarecki’s score, set to his own libretto based on themes from Juliusz Słowacki’s tragedy, is eclectic yet draws on the finest traditions of, among others, French opera.3 The Prelude to Act II from the opera ^{Livia Quintilla} is a remarkably accomplished symphonic passage in Zygmunt Noskowski’s work. The composer openly criticised Richard Wagner and Jules Massenet for using leitmotifs in their operas, yet he himself readily employed the same technique, assigning each of the main characters an individual musical motif. Livia Quintilla failed to achieve significant success, which was probably due in part to its trivial libretto, as well as the difficulty of putting Noskowski’s own principles into practice – according to the composer, the ideal of opera was a synthesis of the symphony and the dramatic cantata.4

Zoltán Kodály’s Singspiel Háry János enjoyed a very different reception. It is based on Hungarian folklore, with a witty libretto telling the story of an Austrian army veteran. The orchestral suite, particularly its famous Intermezzo, became especially well known. The Intermezzo draws on the lively folk dance verbunkos and features the cimbalom.5 Leoš Janáček also drew on his native folklore, this time Moravian, in his Lachian Dances. The first movement of the cycle, Starodávný, is based, among other sources, on the melody of the tragic folk song Zabil jest Matóšek.

Despite the considerable differences between Eastern and Western European operatic works, they have more in common than might initially seem. Many operas are set against the backdrop of historical events, such as the Napoleonic Wars or the French Revolution. However, there are also operas that unfold in fairy-tale worlds, such as Puccini’s Le Villi, based on a legend about the ghosts of women who died of unrequited love, or Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, which tells the story of a nymph who falls in love with a prince, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. Love is the dominant theme, with complex intrigues, jealousy, and death woven into the plots. Wally, a young woman living in an Alpine village, decides to leave home for the unknown rather than marry the man her father has chosen for her. Leonora, the heroine of La forza del destino [Italian The Force of Destiny], hides from the world in a forest after losing her beloved. In the aria ‘Pace, pace, mio Dio!’, she longs for death to release her from her suffering. Maddalena, an aristocrat fallen on hard times, laments the loss of her mother in ‘La mamma morta’; her mother sacrificed her life to protect her daughter from revolutionaries, and Maddalena now lives in poverty, fearing arrest. Adriana Lecouvreur, an actress in love with a prince, is poisoned by his wife. Gioconda takes her own life (aria ‘Suicidio!’). Cio-Cio-San, the naïve heroine of Madama Butterfly, waits in vain for the return of her unfaithful American officer.

Richard Strauss’s song ‘Cäcilie’ definitely stands out against this background. It is a wonderful hymn to love, written shortly before the composer’s wedding to his beloved, the singer Pauline de Ahna, celebrating love and devotion to one’s beloved as the essence of earthly paradise. So love can be happy, too; it can be a source of joy and fulfilment in spite of everything. In a world of wars and power games, it seems all the more important to have a haven in the arms of a loved one. Even if you have to sacrifice a great deal and a tragic fate stands in the way of a happy ending, the most important thing is not to give up – to be able to say, like the heroines of opera, that you did absolutely everything for love.

Programme:
Kristine Opolais | Rafał Kłoczko
13 November 2026
7pm
Teatr Wielki, Lodz

1. Adam Czopek, Krwawy weryzm, Magazyn Operowy Adama Czopka, 24.10.2023, https://www.okoliceopery.pl/krwawy-weryzm (dostęp: 04.07.2026). ↩︎
2. Roman Statkowski: Maria, https://culture.pl/pl/dzielo/roman-statkowski-maria (dostęp: 08.08.2026). ↩︎
3. Joanna Pacan-Świetlicka, Biografia pełna: Henryk Jarecki, Portal Muzyki Polskiej, brak daty publikacji, https://portalmuzykipolskiej.pl/pl/osoba/4207-henryk-jarecki/biografia/2-biografia-pelna (dostęp: 04.07.2026). ↩︎
4. Grzegorz Zieziula, Ideał opery i jego urzeczywistnienie: „Livia Quintilla” Zygmunta Noskowskiego, „Muzyka” 2006, nr 1–2, s. 159–160. ↩︎
5. Orrin Howard, Zoltán Kodály: Háry János Suite, LA Phil, brak daty publikacji, https://www.laphil.com/works/hary-janos-suite (dostęp: 04.07.2026). ↩︎