Poniatowski, Józef (EN)

Poniatowski Józef Michał Ksawery Franciszek Jan, prince, *20 February 1816 Rome, †3 July 1873 London, Polish composer and singer (tenor). He was the son of the nephew of the Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski; he studied in Rome and Florence under C. Zanotti and F. Ceccherini, a famous singer (tenor) and lecturer of the Accademia Belle Arti, but did not complete any composition studies. He had an extensive vocal range (tenor) and an efficient technique, allowing him to perform fast figurations and coloraturas. In 1834, he married Countess Matilde Perotti (1814–1875). As a composer and performer, he was fascinated by opera in the style of Italian bel canto, represented by Rossini and Donizetti. At first, he took part in private performances of operas or their fragments. The Italian and foreign press of the time noted the performances by three singers – tenor Józef Michał, baritone, younger brother Karol, who held honourable positions in Florence as president of the Società Filarmonica and director of the Accademia degli Immobili, and his wife Eliza – of Rossini’s operas Otello and Italian Girl in Algiers, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and Linda from Chamonix, and L. Gordigiani’s opera Filippo. Then they sang in Poniatowski’s operas and also performed Rossini’s Stabat mater in March 1842. Poniatowski also conducted the Società Filarmonica orchestra for several seasons. By 1848, he had staged seven of his operas – mainly lyrical dramas. The first was Giovanni da Procida at the Count R. Standish Theatre in the second half of 1839, and then in September 1840 at the public Teatro Giglio in Lucca. The only Italian opera buffa Don Desiderio achieved great success, performed in Pisa on 20 December 1840, then in many Italian cities (Venice, Florence and Bologna in 1841, Rome and Livorno in 1842, Lucca in 1843, Naples in 1878), as well as on 16 March 1858 at the Théâtre Italien in Paris (again in 1867 with the beloved A. Patti in the role of Angiolina) and on 12 February 1878 in Lviv (libretto translated by L. Sygietyński). Only this opera was performed in Poland in the 19^th century, and after 140 years it returned on 20 October 2018 to the stage of the Silesian Opera in Bytom. The opera Bonifazio de’ Geremei (Rome 1843, Ancona and Livorno 1844, Genoa, Florence, Venice 1845) also enjoyed great popularity in Italy.

Poniatowski’s opera career in Italy was aided by his brother Karol’s aforementioned role in the musical life in Florence, as well as the support of the impresario A. Lanari, who influenced the staging of operas in northern Italy.

There was a break in composing operas from 1848. In that year, Poniatowski received the title of Duke of Monterotondo, and on 30 November, Leopold II, Duke of Tuscany, appointed him Minister Plenipotentiary. As a representative of Tuscany, he held diplomatic posts in Brussels in 1849, in London in 1850–53, and from 1853 in Paris, where he received the dignity of Senator of the French Empire (1853) and French citizenship (1854) from Napoleon III. He was decorated with many honorary titles (Honorary Colonel of the Municipal Guard, Royal Chamberlain of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Commander of the Order of Merito San Giuseppe in Florence, Grand Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour in France in 1851) and membership in associations, academies (Academy of the Royal Institute of Music in Florence in 1863, Artistic Council of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Milan in 1870, and Cercle de l’Union Artistique in Paris). He enjoyed the exceptional trust and recognition of Napoleon III. He held diplomatic missions in Algeria, China and Japan (1862–63).

In the late 1850s, Poniatowski returned to composing operas. The composer wrote the libretti for several of them himself, as well as a pamphlet entitled Les progrès de la musique dramatique à propos del’étude sur L’Armide de Gluck par M. le président Troplong (published in 1859). He became interested in the style of French grand opera and composed three operas: Pierre de Médicis, 1860, Au travers du mur, 1861 and L’Aventurier, 1865 (the libretti were written by J.-H. Vernoy de Saint-Georges), performed on Parisian stages. He also returned to the style of Italian opera in La contessina in 1868. Poniatowski’s operas are distinguished by their varied melodies and effective instrumentation. According to M. Brzoska, the opera Pierre de Médicis represents a late phase in the development of grand opéra; the focus was shifted from historical events to expressing the experiences of the main character, which, incidentally, ensured its great success (H. Berlioz’s feuilletons in “La France musicale” of 25 March 1860). It was performed on 9 March 1860 at the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra, also at the Teatro Real in Madrid (1863) and at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (1869). The interest in Poniatowski’s music is evidenced by the new performance of Pierre de Médicis at the Metropolitan Studio in Washington on 9 May 1971. In the comic operas (Au travers du mur and L’Aventurier), parodic elements are interwoven with elements of the operetta style. Poniatowski’s work had a high position at that time. He was not an innovator, but one should acknowledge the professionalism of his compositional skills, the richness of stage solutions in an interesting sound design, well-thought-out instrumentation, emphasising the dramaturgy of arias, ensembles and scenes, and thus showing individual features, despite basing himself on Rossini’s style in cooperation with the assumptions of Meyerbeer’s French opera. The composer planned other operas (Fedra, Le Rosaire). He also presented his Mass in F major and songs in Paris three times. The fundamental work is the monograph of Józef Michał Ksawery Poniatowski’s Opera by R.D. Golianka from 2012, enriching biographical data and presenting a catalogue of Poniatowski’s operas (libretti, performances, analysis of structure and genre context, discovered scores and editions, piano reductions).

After the defeat of the Franco-Prussian War, Poniatowski emigrated to London in 1871 together with Napoleon III. The loss of his fortune forced him to earn money by giving singing lessons. Thanks to his friendship with A. Patti, he managed to bring about the premiere of the opera Gelmina (a new version of La contessina) in 1872, and the following year – the staging of Au travers du mur in the English translation Through the Walls. His ballad The Yeoman’s Wedding Song (1871) gained great popularity.

The Emperor died on 9 January 1873, and Poniatowski on the night of 3 to 4 July 1873, and they were buried in the Chislehurst cemetery at St. Mary’s Church near London. In 2014, the Association of Polish Landowners for England, Canada and the USA reconstructed and ceremonially unveiled Poniatowski’s tomb.

Literature: A. Busiri Vici I Poniatowski e Roma, Florence 1971 (chapter La discendenza romana di Stanisłao Poniatowski); M. de Angelis La musica del Granduca. Vita musicale e correnti critiche a Firenze 1800–1855, Florence 1978; M. Brzoska Die französischen Opern Poniatowski’s, in: Deutsche Musik im Wegekreuz zwischen Polen und Frankreich. Zum Problem musikalischer Wechselbeziehungen im XIX und XX Jahrhundert, ed. Ch.- H. Mahling, K. Pfarr, Tutzing 1996; R. D. Golianek Opery Józefa Michała Ksawerego Poniatowskiego, Toruń 2012; I. Poniatowska Józef Michał Ksawery Poniatowski – kompozytor i dyplomata, Sesja historyczna Stowarzyszenia Potomków Sejmu Wielkiego, Kraków 27 May 2022 (unpublished materials from the session); R.D. Golianek Książę Poniatowski i jego zapomniane opery, I. Poniatowska Glosa do oper Józefa Michała Ksawerego Poniatowskiego and M. Borkowski Musica reanimata czyli drugie życie Don Desiderio, in: Don Desiderio. Józef Michał Ksawery Poniatowski (programme), Silesian Opera, Polish premiere 20 October 2018; G. Zieziula Toute ma vie est dans mon art. Francuskie listy księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego w kontekście jego biografii i działalności kompozytorskiej, instroduction, selection, translation and edition G. Zieziula, Warsaw 2022.