"The Merry Widow" Filharmonia Narodowa

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"The Merry Widow"
Łukasz Borowicz, photo: Ksawery Zamoyski

Every year, the Warsaw Philharmonic invites listeners to spend New Year’s Eve in the company of music. This year, the orchestra led by Łukasz Borowicz, alongside outstanding soloists, will be performing in full one of the most celebrated operettas in the history of the genre. Ferenc Lehar’s The Merry Widow was first staged in Vienna towards the end of 1905. The history of the work’s composition is so colourful and dramatic that it could be used as the plot for another operetta. The name of the composer – whose music contributed to the extraordinary success of The Merry Widow, performed in its original production almost 500 times – ultimately eclipsed the names of the librettists and the initiators of the project. Lehar was the second composer asked to write the music for this operetta, and towards the end of his work, he was on the point of being dismissed. Until the very last minute, doubts remained as to whether the work would prove a success; the budget and number of rehearsals were reduced to a minimum, and the costs of preparing the costumes and sets were covered partly by the performers themselves. In addition, there was a whiff of diplomatic scandal in the air, and the librettists decided to cover up the source of their not entirely original – as it turned out – idea.

Bartłomiej Gembicki

 

* Opera Academy at Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw
** soloists of the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir

Warsaw Philharmonic Patron of the Year – PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna – warmly welcomes you to join us in this concert
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Anna Bernacka

The artist has over 50 opera parts in her extensive repertoire. She is also a performer of oratorio and cantata works ranging from early music to contemporary. She made her debut in 2006 at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater as Driad in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos.

She performs both on the stages of Polish opera houses (including the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera and the Warsaw Chamber Opera) and on European stages (Komische Oper in Berlin, Staatsoper Stuttgart among others). From 2007 to 2017, she was associated with the Wrocław Opera, where she performed numerous parts in operas by Richard Strauss, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gioachino Rossini, Stanisław Moniuszko, Modest Mussorgsky, Giuseppe Verdi and operettas by Jacques Offenbach, Johann Strauss (the Father).

She has sung under the baton of such conductors as Partick Fournillier, Stefan Soltész, Konrad Junghänel, Stefano Montanari, Jacek Kaspszyk, Tadeusz Kozłowski and Michał Klauza. She has collaborated with eminent directors including Mariusz Treliński, Keith Warner, David Pountney, Willy Decker, Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier.

She is a finalist and winner of many competitions, such as the International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw, the International Antonín Dvořák Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary and the International Halina Halska-Fijałkowska Vocal Competition in Wrocław. In 2015, she was the laureate of the Jan Kiepura Theatre Music Award in the category 'Best Female Singer'. The artist took part in the premiere production of Władysław Żeleński's opera Goplana, which received the prestigious International Opera Award in 2017. In 2021, she was among artists of the “Polish Music Scene” programme.

Anna Bernacka studied at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław (class of Ewa Czermak) and the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover (class of Carol Richardson-Smith). She has participated in numerous master classes led by Teresa Berganza Vargas, Christa Ludwig, Teresa Żylis‑Gara, Helena Łazarska and Ryszard Karczykowski.

 

[2023]