Bronisława Dowiakowska, a prima donna of the Warsaw opera, at a guest performance in Galicia

Abstract

Bronisława Dowiakowska (1840–1910) was one of the highly regarded singers of the Warsaw opera. Over a period of more than thirty years she performed a comprehensive repertoire, singing more than a hundred parts. She also performed in operettas. She possessed an excellent vocal technique and musical memory, as well as a talent for acting. She was regarded as one of the most outstanding Polish opera and operetta singers. In the 1870s and 1880s, she made guest appearances in Lviv and Kraków, becoming a mainstay of these theatres. Her visits resonated loudly in the local press. The name of the Warsaw prima donna became indelibly inscribed in the development of Galician musical culture, and in particular the opera stage of 19th-century Galicia.