| The opera was staged on 3rdNovember 2011 through the efforts of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland at the Apostolic See with the backing of the Marshal of Lesser Poland Voivodship and the authorities of the Tatrzański and Nowy Targ districts. The occasion for the event was Poland’s Presidency of the EU Council and the 65th anniversary of Karol Wojtyła’s ordination as well as the approaching name day of the late Polish Pope which has traditionally attracted groups of pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican.
Up till now, it has been possible to see the opera in three localities in the Tatra Mountains(Podhale region) visited by John Paul II: Zakopane, Nowy Targ and Ludźmierz. For the organisers of this initiative, the performance in Rome constituted the international début for the opera’s producers and performers. It has a symbolic significance to the highlanders and they hope it will open the door to additional performances abroad.
The prestigious 700-seat theatre in Rome was filled to the last seat. Spectators included members of the diplomatic corps accredited at the Apostolic See, dignitaries from the Vaticanand Roman Curia, Italian and Polish politicians, representatives of the Commission for the War Dead of the Italian Ministry of National Defence, foreign and Polish clergy, and representatives of papal universities as well as the academic and cultural communities and Polish émigré organisations. The event was broadcast by the media.
The opera was written by a poet from mountain village of Poronin, Franciszek Łojas Kośla, in the form of a folk tale about the presence of John Paul II in the Podhale region and his ties with Polish highlanders. It starts with his election as Pope, continues through his repeated visits to Podhale and ends with his beatification. The four-act opera was directed by Józef Pitoń, a promoter of regional culture. Also involved in the preparation were: Stanisława Trebunia Staszel, Anna Szczęch, Janina Wacław, Maria and Stanisław Krupa, Małgorzata and Tomasz Słodczyk, Stanisław Łukaszczyk Kołoc, Andrzej Stoch, Krzysztof Trebunia Tutka and Stanisław Gąsienica Wawrytko. The highlander-style music was selected by Józef Pitoń and Franciszek Łojas Kośla in cooperation with Krzysztof Trebunia Tutka, whilst the set was designed by Ewa Dyakowska-Berbeka, a set-designer at Zakopane’s Witkacy Theatre.
The performers in this spectacle are highland ensembles, singers and musicians from the Podhale, Spisz and Orawa areas hailing from some 40 different villages in the Tatra Mountains, all told a cast of 130 people of all ages. All the participants are amateurs, and most of them cannot read music, but all of them really sing their hearts out. The audience was enthralled by the power and beautiful timbre of the voices of the Highland performers. The authenticity of one of the singer’s upraised, work-callused hands evoked the spectators’ respect.
The opera singers were accompanied by highland musicians playing by ear, without notes. Since the lyrics were sung in Polish dialect, audiences were introduced to each act by the Master of Ceremonies, Father Władysław Zarębczan of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelisation of Nations.
Recollecting episodes connected with Karol Wojtyła’s sojourns in Podhale was meant not only to move people, but to help them improve themselves as well. Furthermore, the opera’s leitmotif was engagement — the desire to be together. The villagers of the Podhale region agreed to get involved in the project with no thought of remuneration.
The performers were enthusiastically applauded and had to perform numerous encores for many in the audience were captivated by the music of the Polish highlands.
Highlander Opera
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