Extraordinary Theatrical Premiere in Cleveland

The opera Straszny dwór—translated to The Haunted Manor—by Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko, is in fact beautiful more than anything, as was made clear by its recent production at The Ohio Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, by The Cleveland Opera. The performance took place on June 16, 2018, and was one of the most wonderfully presented operas by Dorota Sobieska and Jacek Sobieski. The mounting of Moniuszko’s magnum opus marked the beginning of a series of celebrations of the one-hundred-year anniversary of Poland regaining its independence, which occurrs this current year.

Straszny dwór belongs to the cannon of Polish works and is based on the Romantic ideals of family and nobility. It declares values such as keeping one’s word, honor, patriotism, courage, and readiness to defend the beloved fatherland if needed.

Such were the times. Poles attempted to free themselves several times from the bonds of oppression imposed upon them; unfortunately their country continued to fall under the ever-stricter regime of the Russian empire. In 1865, following the tragedy of the January uprising, the entire nation was immersed in a deep state of mourning. Women dressed exclusively in black dresses and wore a wooden crucifix around the neck. Stanisław Moniuszko wrote the opera “to hearten the spirit,” with multiple patriotic motifs but not devoid of humor. He set the plot, in accordance with the libretto by Jan Chęciński, at an aristocratic estate. The score integrates Polish folklore in the form of song and dance. The dance rhythms include the polonaise, kujawiak, krakowiak, oberek, and—topping off the final act—a fiery mazur. And even though Straszny dwór brims with elements of comedy, it boasts excellent handling of serious subject matter, which depicts life in historic Poland and communicates noble ideals.

The opera takes place in the eighteenth century. Two brothers, Stefan and Zbigniew, return home after a successful military expedition. They bid farewell to their comrades in the army and swear to remain unmarried, so as to always be at the ready to defend their homeland. They raise the motto, “Vivat semper state of freedom!” However, when they meet two young, noble, and attractive women—Hanna and Jadwiga—love proves stronger than their steadfast oath to bachelorhood. A plethora of twisted intrigues and perilous precipices ultimately paves the way to a happy ending: the double wedding of Stefan to Hanna and of Zbigniew to Jadwiga. And Miecznik, the maidens’ father, blesses the enamoured couples.

Since its Warsaw premiere, Straszny dwór has become a national epic, and the Polish spirit winds its way not only through the music but also through the Polish way of life pictured at the noble manor, characterized by honesty and patriotism, and embodied by the beautiful vestments, traditions, and customs of the people.

The Cleveland Opera produced Straszny dwór in a traditional style, free of strange staging decisions and in keeping with its historical intentions. The costumes, on loan from the Paderewski Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, where they previously had been purchased from The Grand Opera of The National Theater in Warsaw, contributed to the captivating atmosphere. We owe the sets, most notably the architecturally refined manor and the grandfather clock key to the celebrated tenor aria in the third act, to Artist, Set Designer, and Construction Director Charles Gliha and to Artist Hubert Wiśniewski. Also involved in the art-tech crew were Andrzej Stępień, Ben Malkevitch, and Jiana Peng, as well as the entire Sobieski family.

The large chorus of The Cleveland Opera, supplemented by nine additional singers from Chicago, ably rendered their spirited part. In particular, the lyrical women’s chorus of the embroidery scene at the top of Act II, full of kindness and grace, aroused the enchantment of the audience.

The soloists were uniformly excellent. Each character in the opera is granted an opportunity to shine, which each of the performers utilized to its full extent. The singers came from many different cities in the United States and from abroad.

Two scenes in the production enlisted the Polish dance group “Piast,” choreographed by Director Agnieszka Kotlarsic—appearances which charmingly featured its young and lovely members: Anastazja Gołąb, Sophia Kopasaki, Paulina Kramarczyk, and Joanna Sychla. The fiery mazur in the grand finale of the opera, meanwhile, was gloriously brought to life in the fullness of its fiery splendor by The Cleveland Ballet under the leadership of Artistic Director Gladisa Guadalupe, complete with a beautiful set of costumes designed and custom-made especially for this production.

Maestro Grzegorz Nowak, Permanent Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and Music Director of The Grand Opera of The National Theater in Warsaw, led the performance with extraordinary precision and sheer beauty of music-making.

For Directors Dorota Sobieska and Jacek Sobieski, along with their assistants Jamie Thornburg and Wanda Sobieska, as well as Aleksandra Sobieska and Julian Sobieski, mounting this production was nothing short of a Herculean task requiring enormous effort and unswerving dedication. May their artistic work be writ in letters of gold upon the tome of history that recounts incarnations abroad of the Moniuszko masterpiece that is Straszny dwór—the beloved opera of the Polish people.

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by Elżbieta Ulanowska
translation by Wanda Sobieska