Agenor i Strabon, Papageno i Sarastro: Lwowskie meandry operowej biografii Wojciecha Bogusławskiego
Agenor and Strabo, Papageno and Sarastro: The Lviv Meanders of Wojciech Bogusławskis Operatic Biography

Summary/Abstract: This article refers to Zbigniew Raszewski’s findings regarding Wojciech Bogusławski’s acting roles in Lviv productions of the opera Amazonki (Amazons), the first joint work of Boguławski as librettist and the composer Józef Elsner. Based on incomplete information from Bogusławski’s Dzieła dramatyczne (Dramas), Raszewski concluded that the librettist played the Greek king Agenor. The analysis of the musical and literary elements of the opera generally confirms this, but it also suggests significant fluctuations in the author’s casting ideas. The aim of the article is to identify Bogusławski’s personal traces in the roles of both Agenor and Strabo. Hypotheses are also put forward regarding the moment in time and the reasons for changing the casting concept. The article expands the research on Bogusławski’s creative biography as an author, actor, and singer, using textual criticism (musical and literary sources), analyzing the cast in light of relevant operatic conventions, and employing analytical and interpretative tools of musicology and literary criticism, as well as comparative studies, to link fragments of the opera with Mozart’s The Magic Flute. An important methodological premise is the hitherto neglected possibility of using musicological tools in research on Bogusławski’s work and creative biography as a man of opera.

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