Theatre
Cud mniemany, czyli Krakowiacy i Górale
Not translated into English
Wojciech Bogusławski · 1794
Synopsis
At Mogiła, near Kraków, Stach, a carter's son, and Basia, daughter of the miller Bartłomiej, want to marry. But Basia's stepmother, Dorota, who covets the young man herself, has promised the girl to the highlander Bryndus, and the highlanders are coming down the Vistula by boat for the betrothal. Bardos, a poor student expelled from his school, who carries his books and an electric machine in his satchel, promises the lovers his help, while the quarrel between the Cracovians and the highlanders grows more bitter.
Context
Written to music by Jan Stefani, the work was premiered at the national theatre of the capital, probably on 1 March 1794, under the title Cud, czyli Krakowiacy i Górale; the word “mniemany” was added in 1796. Given a few weeks before the Kościuszko Uprising, in which its author was one of the conspirators, it at once took on a political meaning. The libretto was printed from a manuscript in Berlin in 1842. Leon Schiller staged it again in 1946 and established it lastingly in the repertoire.
Who it is for
A libretto of three or four acts depending on the versions, written partly in the speech of peasants and highlanders, which requires notes even in Polish. No French translation.
Prizes and reception
Regarded since Leon Schiller as the first Polish national opera, and still in the repertoire of opera and drama stages.
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