Domieniecki Wacław, *9 April 1910 Warsaw, †4 July 1988 Warsaw, Polish singer (heldentenor). In 1935–39 he studied at the F. Chopin night music school in Warsaw under S. Belina-Skupiewski; during the occupation he studied privately with H. Moyssełowicz-Fiszler. In 1945–47 he worked as a concert singer at the State Philharmonic in Łódź. In 1947–49 he was a soloist of the State Silesian Opera in Bytom. In 1949–53 he performed at the S. Moniuszko State Opera in Poznań, including as Jontek in Moniuszko’s Halka (the famous stage production by L. Schiller, 1950) and as Otello in Verdi’s Otello (the first postwar Polish staging of this drama, 1953). From 1954–61 he was a soloist of the Warsaw Opera; he sang, among others, the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin (the first postwar production in 1956) and in Żeleński’s Janek. In 1961 he appeared as Herod in the Polish premiere of Strauss’s Salome. In 1962–65 he again worked on the operatic stage in Poznań; from 1965 he collaborated with the Warsaw Opera. He also appeared as a guest artist in the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and the GDR. Among Domieniecki’s most outstanding roles are Radames in Verdi’s Aida (which he performed over 270 times), Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, and Otello in Verdi’s Otello. He made numerous archival radio and record recordings, including the first recording in the history of Polish phonography of Moniuszko’s Halka with the Poznań Opera ensemble under W. Bierdiajew; in 1951 he recorded the role of Jontek for the film Warsaw Premiere (dir. J. Rybkowski). For his artistic activity he received several state decorations, including the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1953) and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1972).
