Mokrzycka Maria Matylda, nee Poecke, *25 March 1882 Lviv, †15 May 1971 Skolimów-Konstancin (near Warsaw), Polish singer (soprano). In 1902–05, she studied at the Conservatory in Lviv with W. Wysocki, in 1905, she made her debut at the Lviv Opera as Stella in Chopin by G. Orefice, she also acted there as Micaela in Carmen by Bizet, as Sophie in Werther by J. Massenet and as Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann by J. Offenbach. She also sang in Kraków, and in 1908, she became a soloist at the Warsaw Opera. From 1909, she performed, among others, in Turin, Bergamo, Naples (Teatro di San Carlo), Geneva, Budapest, Barcelona and Vienna; she also sang at a large concert in San Francisco; she succeeded at these concerts and her partners were often the most prominent singers of those times. In 1917, she returned to Warsaw and was one of the leading singers of the opera until 1932. In 1950–53, she taught at F. Chopin Music School and in 1953–61 at PWST in Warsaw. Her most remarkable roles include the title role in Madame Butterfly, Mimi in La bohème by G. Puccini, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin by P. Tchaikovsky, the title role in Halka by S. Moniuszko and opera Eros and Psyche by L. Różycki (1918) in which she fascinated audiences with her vocal mastery, power of stage expression, as well as her extraordinary beauty and charm of character. She also played the title role during the world premiere of K. Szymanowski’s Hagith (1922). Among few recordings by Mokrzycka made at the turn of the century, four duets recorded together with M. Battistini are worth mentioning (from Rigoletto and Traviata by G. Verdi, Pagliacci by R. Leoncavallo and Linda from Chamonix by G. Donizetti).
