Turowska, Maria
Turowska Józefa, married Leśkiewicz, *5 March 1819 Lipiny (near Wieluń, Sieradz County in the former Kalisz Gubernia), †15 January 1884 Warsaw, Polish singer (contralto). She was the daughter of Wojciech Turowski, a landowner. In 1835 she arrived in Warsaw, and, at the encouragement of her brother, Seweryn Turowski, took up singing lessons privately. Turowska in May of that year, after successful performances at the Merchants’ Resursa, she began studying with K. Kurpinski at the singing school attached to the Teatr Wielki. She made her debut on 17 June 1837 in Warsaw performing the part of Isabella in The Italian Girl in Algiers by G. Rossini (alongside her sister Maria), gaining critical acclaim. She performed that year in Robert le diable by G. Meyerbeer, and in the years 1838–1839 in the title role of the revival of La Cenerentola [“Cinderella”] by Rossini and as Rosina in The Barber of Seville. In these two realisations, for the first time on the Warsaw stage, the parts of the main female characters were performed in the original version, and not in transposition for soprano. Józefa Turowska also sang at that time the tenor part of Elvino (in Kurpiński’s transcription) in La sonnambula [“The Sleepwalker”] by V. Bellini. In 1841, encouraged by Warsaw opera conductor O. Nicolai, she went to the conservatory in Paris to study under G. Bordogni. Deprived of a government scholarship, she gave several concerts in the meantime so that she could afford them. Turowska sang at the Teatr Miejski in Poznań in 1841 (12 and 17 October), at the Hotel Drezdeński (24 October) in Poznań, at the Königliche Oper in Berlin (19 and 22 November) and in Frankfurt am Main. In Germany, she met Meyerbeer, who provided her with a letter of recommendation. In Paris, she was advised and patronised by Chopin. Studying under Bordogni did not fully satisfy Josefa Turowska, but she did not follow Chopin’s advice to abandon her education as his student and continue her studies with C.E. Soliva (Sydow, Vol. 2, pp. 53–54). In 1842, she received an invitation to London, but did not accept it. She also turned down an invitation from Meyerbeer, who, when they met in Paris, offered her a role of Fidés in opera Le Prophète. After returning to Warsaw, she married Antoni Leśkiewicz on 12 August 1842, secretary of the Treasury Commission of the Commonwealth; from then on she used double-barrelled surnames or married name. Her first performance after returning to Warsaw was given on 23 January 1843 at Pac Palace, and another on 3 March 1844 in the Redutowe Rooms of the Teatr Wielki together with K. Lipiński. She became a prima donna of the stage, singing in operas including Der Freischütz [“The Marksman”] by C.M. von Weber (16 November 1843), Il Giuramento by S. Mercadante, Lucrezia Borgia, Linda di Chamounix and Maria di Rohan by G. Donizetti and Marta by F. von Flotow (premiered 20 January 1850); her farewell concert took place in the Redutowe Rooms on 2 May 1858. She performed in Elsner’s and Mendelssohn’s oratorios and at numerous concerts, for instance, to support the Music Institute, which was being established then and to which she donated textbooks, sheet music and books. Jozefa Turowska was highly regarded by S. Moniuszko, who already in 1847 planned to cast her in the role of Halka. She died of cancer and was buried in Powązki Cemetery.
Józefa Turowska was an accomplished singer and highly regarded singing teacher. She had a rare, strong and beautifully timbral voice, covering a range of 3 octaves. She sang “with taste and feeling”, amazed with her phenomenal technique, exemplary diction and the “flexibility”, and the “enchanting sound” of her voice.
Literature: “Kurier Warszawski” 1837 No. 158 and 1843 No. 305; Opera, “Pamiętnik Sceny Warszawskiej”, Warsaw 1838–1839; “Gazeta Wielkiego Księstwa Poznańskiego” 1841 No. 284 (reprint of an excerpt from a review of the 22 November concert from “Vossische Zeitung”); Koncert pani L. Dnia 2 maja r. b., “Ruch Muzyczny” 1858 No. 18; J. Kleczyński Józefa z Turowskich Leśkiewiczowa, “Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne” 1884 No. 17 (obituary); Korespondencja F. Chopina, published by B.E. Sydow, Vol. 2, Warsaw 1955.