50th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw

Opera arrived to Poland only thirty years after it had been born in Florence. In 1628 Władysław IV Vasa invited the first Italian opera troupe to Poland. Since then Poland’s principal opera and ballet scene has been the Teatr Wielki. Erected between 1825 and 1833 based on a design by Antonio Corazzi of Livorno.

The theatre later underwent a few reconstructions. During the 1939 siege of Warsaw it was bombed and completely destroyed, except for its classicist facade.

"They used dynamite to blow up the Wojciech Bogusławski's monument in front of the Wielki, as well as the statues of Duke Poniatowski and Adam Mickiewicz". (Sylwia Chutnik,"The grandest of them all", [w:] "Teatr Wielki 50/50", Warsaw 2015, p. 164)

"The archive of the Govermental Theatres did not survive. It had contained thousands of manuscripts of dramatic plays, music scores, theatre bills and programmes, personal records of artists and staff, their diaries and memorabilia" (Sylwia Chutnik,"The grandest of them all", [w:] "Teatr Wielki 50/50", Warsaw 2015, p. 166)

Stage and theatre director. In 1909 he brought about the building of the Polski Theatre in Warsaw, which he later led for many years. In 1934-1936 he managed five Warsaw theatres altogether, in 1937 he co-founded the Polish Representative Ballet, and led the company throughout its first season. On 1 March 1950 he became the director of the Teatr Wielki Opera and Ballet Under Construction. In 1959 he was appointed the culture minister’s representative for the repertoire, recruitment, organisation and financial matters of the new Teatr Wielki Opera and Ballet in Warsaw. It was he who ensured the best possible equipment for the constructed theatre. Because of his perseverance he was nicknamed Arnold the Mad and Arnold the Persistent.

Bohdan Pniewski won the 1950 competition for the best reconstruction design of the Teatr Wielki after it had been destroyed in World War II. The winning design featured an auditorium with a semicircular seating plan and one balcony, and five columned porticos. An analogous concept was used for the facade as seen from Piłsudski Square.

“One of the biggest, most important, and most difficult building construction investments (…), apart from building new cities [or] factory complexes, (…) will be the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. One of the biggest because the lot – whose boundaries are delimited by Teatralny Square, Focha (now: Moliera) street, Trębacka street, and Wierzbowa street – measures 11 594 m2 (including the National Theatre). In practice, the construction works will go even farther, including Trębacka street and three lots with even numbers on Focha street (…). Finally, because of the Teatr Wielki’s construction, some decisions will have to be made as regards the future of Zwycięstwa (now: Piłsudskiego) Square and Teatralny Square” (Arnold Szyfman, “Pamiętniki Teatralne”, issue no. 2/3, 1952, State Institute of Art, Warsaw).

"To biuld an opera today, in the mid-20th century, is a complicated task, almost without precedence, requiring us to discover almost all of the guiding principles anew", said Bohdan Pniewski in an interview in 1956.

"There are 650 seats in the stalls and 480 in the corbeille, the slightly elevated area of the parterre. The upper circle includes the state box, totalling 337 seats. In the balcony can seat 327 people.The boxes on the last storey - the galery - are built into the wall of the auditorium. Some have seats (150), while others accomodate electric and ventilation equipment". (Beata Chomątowska, "Glamour in a time of gloom", [in:] "Teatr Wielki 50/50", Warsaw 2015, p. 184)

Decorative concept is governed by the classicist exterior of the building designed by Corazzi.

"The six protruding, four-column porticos give the long wall a rhythm that fully eradicates the risk of it becoming wearisomely monotonous" (Ibidem)

"The theatre will be fitted with 87 different electric networks. The stage machinery, heating, air-conditioning and ventilation systems will be installed by foreign conractors". (Beata Chomątowska, "Glamour in a time of gloom", [in:] "Teatr Wielki 50/50", Warsaw 2015, p. 182)

The patterned floor of the Main Foyer designed by Bohdan Pniewski conceals a secret: it delimits the Theatre’s pre-war auditorium. The floor was made of carefully selected, dyed ash wood. Here, too, you will notice cosmic motifs on both sides of the central flower pattern. Tadeusz Gronowski and Bohdan Pniewski had worked together on the interior design of the Theatre for more than four years. Most of Gronowski’s designs can now be seen in the Main Foyer.

On 19 November 1965, after 14 years of work, the reconstructed Teatr Wielki officially opened. It was Friday, 19 November 1965. The day marked two anniversaries: of the first theatre show staged in Polish in Warsaw (1765) and of laying the cornerstone of the original building designed by Antonio Corazzi (1825). The weather was wintry. The first performance was the gala premiere of Moniuszko’s "The Haunted Manor" on Saturday, 20 November at 7 p.m. Cars pulling up in front of the illuminated Theatre caused a huge traffic jam (then a rarity) in the otherwise dim streets.

In total, the opening was attended by over 400 people from 25 different countries, 70 foreign reporters and music critics, and prominent Polish artists. It seemed that after such a grand opening, the Teatr Wielki has an even grander future before it.

Opened in 1965, the Teatr Wielki was one of the most innovative opera houses in the world, offering huge production possibilities, despite the limitations of the Communist era. The stage machinery was made to measure by carefully selected manufacturers from across Europe.

"Both Antonio Corazzi and Bohdan Pniewski shaped the architectural face of Warsaw, one designing institutional buildings and carrying out urban development projects. Both came up with their designs in complicated economic and political conditions. Both had to accept modifications demanded by the powers that be. Yet each strived for perfection: a monumental structure with an auditorium able to seat two thousand people and the most modern stage in the world.

“I walked – first around the ruins, then around the Teatr Wielki under reconstruction. Now I’m walking around a grand theatre (…). I feel like a smaller version of Louis XIV in the New Versailles. What’s more, I known all that is hidden from the audience’s eye. I try to forget about it, because the crowd see the stage only (…). But I can’t forget what I saw and what now has to function well for the opera to be born. And it is born at the backstage, in the rehearsal rooms of the orchestra, chorus, and ballet. It is born in the scenic painting shops and other workshops. It emerges from storage rooms and huge side docks, and appears on the stage thanks to a system of levers, lifts, and colossal machinery that could conceal an elephant, dragon, or a life-size pyramid” (Zygmunt Mycielski, “Ruch Muzyczny”, issue no. 1, 1-15 January 1965).