July 24 marked the hundredth birthday of Bernard Ładysz, an exceptional artist whose fate was dictated by the turning wheel of history.

Overture

The first person who heard the extraordinarily sound of his voice was a clergyman of Saint Bartholomew's church in Vilnius. It is thanks to this man that a nine-year-old altar boy whose name was Benio (a diminutive of his name Bernard) made his vocal debut in the parish choir.

Act 1

Scene 1

His family home was poor. His father, a carpenter, could hardly support three sons and a wife, who worked only part time, here and there. Their economic situation slightly improved in the mid-1930s, when the older sons, Antek and Franek, joined the army and Benio, the youngest, started supporting the family budget, working as a newsboy. Benio sold not only local magazines, such as "Dziennik Willeński" ("Vilnius Journal") and "Słowo" ("Word"), but also "Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny" (the "Illustrated Daily Courier", a popular daily published in Cracow). In a copy of the Courier he first came across photos of two famous opera singers: the Russian Fyodor Shalyapin and the Polish Adam Didur. He was already familiar with them thanks to the radio that had appeared in the family flat located on the ground floor of the tenement house in Połocka Street. It had come as a gift from Nachman Lewin, co-owner of the Elektrit Radiotechnical Society, for whom Benio’s father had made some wooden panneling. Prophetically, the Elektrit-produced radio receiver given to the Ladysz family was called "Opera".

Scene 2

On September 1, 1939 (the first day of the Second World War), Beniek (another diminutive of Bernard) volunteered to join the army. Since he was a minor (17-years of age), he was not accepted. Seventeen days later, together with his friends from the Vilnius’ district of Zarzecze, he was preparing to defend the city against the Red Army (the army of the USSR). Vilnius, however, was given to the Bolsheviks without firing a shot.

The first Soviet occupation lasted four weeks and was characterized by the general plunder of everything. However, when the ensuing eight-month Lithuanian rule with its deeply nationalistic character came to an end following the second Soviet ascent (Vilnius had belonged to Poland before the war), many residents breathed a sigh of relief. They soon changed their minds. A year later, when the city of Gediminas (the Great Duke of Lithuania who in the 14th century founded Vilnius) was taken over by the Germans, many of the inhabitants saw their arrival as a form of salvation. However, once again, their illusion was very quickly.shattered.

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  During the war, Bernard worked in a bakery and attended at first Lithuanian and Soviet schools and later (during the German occupation) underground classes. During the city's Lithuanian phase, his parents temporarily hosted the Polish satirist and poet Światopełk Karpiński in their apartment. He was trying to reach Sweden via Lithuania. A fatal heart attack stopped his plans. During the German occupation, the modest place became a stop-over for escapees from the Vilnius ghetto. The Zygelman couple who hid there temporarily survived the war. Their daughter, Natasza Zylska (vel Zygelman), was to become one of the leading Polish singers of the 1950s, best known for performing evergreen Mexican classics.

Scene 3

The youngest son of the Ładysz family was introduced to the Związek Walki Zbrojnej (the Union of Armed Struggle, an underground army formed in Poland in 1939, and later transformed into the so-called Home Army) by his friend Andrzej Korniłowicz, the very one who is said to have cooperated in the same organisation with Leopold Tyrmand (a well-known Polish novelist).

A dozen or so years later, after the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Bohdan Piasecki (son of Bolesław Piasecki, chairman of the PAX Association, a pro-communist Catholic organization created in Poland in 1947, who, prior to the war, had been the leader of the ONR-Falanga far-right faction), Bernard Ładysz was to wonder who had really been behind an article entitled "The Piasecki case", written by Tyrmand that was published a few weeks before this still unexplained crime. Bohdan Piasecki was abducted on January 22, 1957, from in front of his high school in Warsaw. His body was found on December 8, 1958. The article attacking Bolesław Piasecki appeared in the popular weekly "Świat" ("The World"), which was edited by Stefan Arski, who also had wartime links with Vilnius.

Scene 4

In the fall of 1943, Ładysz, now a member of the Polish underground, adopted the nickname "Janosik" (after a legendary 18th-century Polish mountain outlaw). With this pseudonym, he served in the 3rd Vilnius Brigade of Armia Krajowa [the Home Army], under the command of Lieutenant Gracjan Fróg, nicknamed "Szczerbiec" (the name of the ceremonial sword used in the coronations of Polish kings from 1320 to 1764).The future singer's closest friend in the underground was the platoon leader Kazimierz Chmielowski, nicknamed "Rekin" ["Shark"].

In communist Poland, both "Szczerbiec" and "Rekin" were sentenced to death and executed (sentences that were later recognised as unlawful). In 1944, all three participated in Operation Ostra Brama [lit. Operation Sharp Gate], that was organized by the Polish Home Army in an attempt to take Vilnius over from Germans. Once the town was taken over by the Red Army, they were arrested by the Soviets. Ładysz was sent to the camp in Kaluga, where he worked as a lumberjack. When the war ended, the living conditions in the camp improved slightly. The camp’s NKVD unit (i.e. People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs which served as the USSR law enforcement agency) even allowed the prisoners to form a small theatrical group: Ładysz sang, actor Stanisław Jasiukiewicz recited poetry, musician Henryk Czyż looked after the musical arrangements and film director Stanisław Lenartowicz was in overall charge. All would later became luminaries of Polish culture.

Act 2

Scene 1

It is believed that Ładysz and his friends regained their freedom thanks to the intervention of Bolesław Piasecki. But nobody knows if he was actually that influential in 1947.

Bernard could not return to Vilnius, his hometown, because it had changed hands after the war and now belonged to the USSR. So he settled in Warsaw, where he found a job and accommodation at a bakery. He used to sing while baking and was heard by one of the bakery’s regular clients, who happened to be a teacher and accompanist. He convinced the young baker to start training his voice.

Soon, the singer stumbled across a press announcement looking for candidates for the about-to-be-created Song and Dance Ensemble of the Polish Army.

Scene 2

Ładysz started singing professionally under the direction of Colonel Teodor Ratkowski. Born in Rostov in Russia, the conductor, arranger and composer provided asylum to many fledgling artists whose biographies were not 100 per cent politically correct in communist Poland. The price they had to pay for their safety was to embrace the socialist realist repertoire beloved by the communist authorities.

Ładysz's showcase piece was the song "Miasto Pokoju" ["The City of Peace", composed by Edward Olearczyk, lyrics by Henryk Gaworski]. His interpretation of "Mississippi" [a Polish version of "Ol' Man River" from the 1927 musical "Show Boat" -- music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II] was equally beautiful. "The artists in uniforms" were usually announced on stage by satirist Józef Prutkowski, who sometimes made risque jokes, many based on untranslatable puns.

Thanks to the very well connected Ratkowski, in 1956 Ładysz, at the time a budding soloist at the Warsaw Opera, managed to get a a passport and participated in the prestigious Viotti International Voice Competition in Vercelli, Italy. Despite having to sing straight away after completeing the long and exhausting train journey from Poland, he won! First prize could have opened the doors to the greatest opera houses in the world for him. Alas, this wasn’t meant to be.

Scene 3

After his spectacular triumph in Italy, Ładysz became involved in the search for the missing son of Bolesław Piasecki, and later, when the teenager’s body was found, he tried to help expose the instigators of this gruesome murder.

A few years later, he was one of the signatories of the appeal to free Adam Boryczka, nickname "Brona" ("Harrow"), the last imprisoned member of the underground Home Army in communist Poland and a courier of Wolność i Niezawisłość [The Freedom and Independence Association, a Polish underground anti-communist organization that was active between 1945 and 1952]. Among those appealing for Boryczka's release were many other well-known veterans of the Polish Resistance, like Bolesław Piasecki, mentioned above, the writers Jan Dobraczyński, Melchior Wańkowicz, Stanisław Rembek, Roman Bratny, Stanisław Podlewski and Jerzy Ślaski, the translator Bronisław Zieliński, the legendary RAF pilot Stanisław Skalski, historian Zygmunt Janke, lawyers Antoni Pajdak, Adam Bień, Wiesław Chrzanowski, Andrzej Kozanecki, Janusz Zabłocki, Kazimierz Studentowicz and Witold Lis-Olszewski as well as Antoni Heda and Stefan Bembiński. The initiative was successful and Boryczka was finally released in 1967.

In 1965, the opening of the Grand Theatre and National Opera of Warsaw (rebuilt according to designs by architect Bohdan Pniewski after it was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944) was inaugurated with the premiere of the opera "Straszny Dwór" (The Haunted Manor" composed by Stanisław Moniuszko). Ładysz took the role of Skołuba [one of the best known protagonists in all of Polish opera] and sang the hugely popular Polish aria that starts with the words: "That old clock ...". After the performance, an audience consisting of many well-known personalities from the cultural, scientific, political and diplomatic life, gathered in front of the Opera House, next to the Moniuszko monument. Ładysz, still wearing his costume, a traditional Sarmatian robe, proceeded to toast the Finnish ambassador with the words: "May we never have a common king again!" (a reference to the times when both Poland and Finland were under the Russian rule). Foreign correspondents accredited in Warsaw at the time highlighted this incident in their reports while Ładysz for a while was banned from traveling abroad.

Scene 4

But who knows what the the biggest obstacle preventing Ładysz from crossing the thresholds of Covent Garden, La Scala or the Metropolitan Opera was. Perhaps it was la vie privée . While still a "military" musician, the artist got involved in an affair with the dancer Irena Mrówczyńska and while competing for her favors he defeated lieutenant colonel ... Wojciech Jaruzelski (the leader of communist Poland between 1981 and 1989 and President of Poland from 1989 to 1990). The fruit of his short relationship with Mrówczyńska is Ładysz’s daughter, Beata. Later, during a relationship with journalist Zuzanna Czajkowska (previously imprisoned for anti-communist activities), he also had a son, Aleksander, who became a valued impresario and musical announcer as well as a singer.

In the end, a woman who was able to catch the famous singer was found. Ładysz’s wedding to the opera singer Leokadia Rymkiewiczówna at Warsaw's All Saints Church was the stuff of legends. When the presiding priest asked the artist whether he would promise his bride love, faithfulness and marital honesty until his death, the groom -- out of hand -- replied in a booming bass: "Can you please repeat the question?" The foundations of the monumental temple located at Grzybowski Square shook with the laughter of the wedding guests.

His wife gave him a son, Zbigniew, who for several decades has been working on the Scandinavian music scene. He inherited his father's weakness for the fair sex. For years, Polish media have speculated about his friendship with the actress Sylwia Wysocka. Bernard Ładysz always hoped they would eventually marry. But no result as yet.

Meanwhile, the marriage of Bernard and Leokadia turned out to be, euphemistically speaking, "colourful"…

Music critic Janusz Cegiełła wrote: “Leokadia Rymkiewicz is undoubtedly a woman of great beauty, but also possessive. She was always against any new work opportunities of her husband. I often acted as an intermediary in such negotiations as Benek's supporter. With no luck, unfortunately.”

Another music critic, Zdzisław Sierpiński said: “I remember my review in “Życie Warszawy“ (Polish daily), where I praised Ładysz’s performance (who probably was never criticized anyway). Later that day, his other half called me. She thanked me and discreetly asked for a review of her performance as well. After a while, when the opportunity arose, I mentioned her in one of my articles. Unforunately, it was not very complimentary. Since then, she never responded to my bow.”

According to baritone Andrzej Hiolski: “Ładysz is a very good man. And she is a Scandinavian type, a typical glacial blonde, as he always describes her when tipsy. Undoubtedly, he loves her very much. Is he jealous? I will answer that he does have his reasons... ”

Tenor Bogdan Paprocki agreed: “Ładysz often complained to me that his wife was giving him antlers. I always tried to tone down his emotions by emphasizing that a beautiful woman is like a star, around which many planets orbit."

Tenor Paulos Raptis described the Ladyszes’ marriage in the following way: “The Ładysz couple was famous in the musical environment due to numerous wars they fought, not only with each other but also with others. I had an impression that she was provoking these wars. For example, she would persuade him to insist that she should be cast in a show, which would result in him having conflicts with directors."

According to music critic Janusz Ekiert: “In 1981, after 20 years of marriage they divorced because of her fault. The court entrusted the care of the minor son to the father. At that time, we did not have a tabloid press, but the artistic circles knew very well the reasons for the breakdown. She got involved with a certain cardiologist who also wrote poetry. This union didn’t last even four years. And then, to my enormous surprise, the unfaithful wife returned to Bernard. Their second wedding was even more astonishing."

Act 4

Scene 1

Ładysz was the only Polish opera singer who recorded an album with the greatest diva of the 20th century, Maria Callas. He also sang with other famous singers: Mario del Monaco, Giuseppe di Stefano, Victoria de Los Angeles and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. At the beginning of the 1960s, in Poland he accompanied a fledgling tenor from Italy. Years later, Luciano Pavarotti was to say about the Pole: "I have been traveling around the world for so many years, but I have never heard a more beautiful bass voice."

The great Polish tenor Wiesław Ochman, probably Ładysz's closest stage colleague, said: “I sang with all the world's best basses: Cesare Siepi, Nikolai Giaurov, Boris Christov. I must admit, Bernard Ładysz had no rivals. God gave him the voice. My friend had no formal musical education, but he had a range of three octaves! It is a pity that the world did not find out about it, because Benio never showed any desire for an international career”.

And yet Ładysz has successfully performed all the opera classics: "Eugene Onegin" (by Pyotr Tchaikovsky), "Halka" (by Stanisław Moniuszko) "Faust" (by Charles Gounod), "The Barber of Seville" (by Gioachino Rossini), "Don Giovanni" (by Amadeus Mozart), "Don Carlos", "Aida", "Sicilian Vespers" and "Rigoletto" (by Giusppe Verdi), "Prince Igor" (by Alexander Borodin), "King Roger" (by Karol Szymanowski), "Lucia di Lammermoor" (by Gaetano Dionizetti) and, the role of his life, in "Boris Godunov" (by Modest Mussorgsy).

Scene 2

An important date in his biography was December 13, 1981 (the day the Military Council of National Salvation, headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski, imposed martial law in Poland). Ładysz was dismissed from the Grand Theater. The decision, made by then director Robert Satanowski (who, according to Janusz Cegiełła, was more qualified to be a good drum-major than director of the national stage) had both political and personal overtones. Prior to the period of martial law, during the Solidarity times, Ładysz publicly denounced Satanowski’s servility to the communist authorities as well as his past as the Polish People's Army general during the Second World War, as a commander of a partisan unit in Volhynia (a historic region in Eastern Europe), trained in Moscow and subordinated to the Kremlin.

Scene 3

Ładysz’s compulsory early retirement, however, did not mean a break with singing. Maria Fołtyn (Polish singer and opera director) entrusted him with the role of Tewye the Milkman in the Polish premiere of "Fiddler on the Roof" which he performed fantastically. And appearing on the stage of Warsaw’s Syrena Theater, he was met with thunderous applause in the production entitled "In the green and gold Singapore", where he sang the romances of the Russian singer Alexander Vertinsky, as translated by Jonasz Kofta.

Ładysz also performeed in the movies. Before 1981 he had starred in several adaptationa of such Polish literary classics as "Lalka" ["The Doll", directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has, based on a novel of the same title, written by Bolesław Prus and transl. by David Welsh, The New York Review of Books, Inc, 2012], "Ziemia Obiecana" ["The Promised Land", directed by Andrzej Wajda from the novel by Władysław Reymont, transl. by Michael Henry Dziewicki, A.A. Knopf, 1927], and "Matura" ("Exam"), a television miniature directed by Tadeusz Konwicki. He also played the miller Prokop in Jerzy Hoffman's "Znachor" ["The Quack", based on the novel of that title written by Tadeusz Dołęga Mostowicz, Świat Książki, 2022] and a wandering bard in the same director’s adaptation of "Ogniem i Mieczem" ["With Fire and Sword" by Henryk Sienkiewicz, transl. by W.S. Kuniczak, the Copernicus Society of America, 1996]. He was a monarch in Jerzy Gruza's series "Pierścień i Róża" ["The Ring and the Rose", an adaptation of the 1854 novel by the British writer William Makepeace Thackeray] and he played a pastor in the detective story "Karate po polsku" ("Karate in Polish" directed by Wojciech Wójcik).

Scene 4

In 1982, shortly after the latter title was released, I had the honor of meeting the artist. I remember perfectly how, after entering his villa in 13 Franciszkańska Street in Otrębusy (a village close to Warsaw) I asked my host where I should hang my coat and he answered with a mischievous smile: "Perhaps on my horns."

Since I was in the same class as his son Zbyszek, I attended a graduation grill-party he organised for him in the garden of this residence, during which he became its main star. When I called next day to thank for the unforgettable celebration, he cut my monologue short by asking, "Don't you think it's time for us to get onto first name terms?" Confused, I stammered out, "It is entirely up to you, Mr. Bernard." He hang up the receiver with the words: "Well, then goodbye, Tomek [diminutive of Tomasz]."



Coda

He lived to be 98 years old. He spent the autumn of his life in his apartment situated on the third floor of the musicians' block in 8 Molier Street. It was the first residential building in post-war Warsaw equipped with an underground garage and intercoms.

His unhealthy lifestyle finally made itself felt: Ładysz liked alcolhol, smoked cigars with a passion and loved tasty, high calorie food, which I had the opportunity to taste myself many times.

In Warsaw’s Powązki Cemetery, on August 5, 2020, he was bade farewell by many music lovers and artists as well as compatriots born in the same region of Kresy, i.e. Eastern Borderlands 9a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period of 1918–19390. Many cried while the honorary company of the Polish Army saluted him with a salvo of honor.

-- By Tomasz Zbigniew Zapert

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and journalists

  – Translated by Agnieszka Rakoczy

Special thanks for help in writing the text to Aleksander Czajkowski-Ładysz, Zbigniew Ładysz and Sylwia Wysocka.

Sources:

H. Czyż "Jak z nut", PAX, Warszawa, 1978 ["Like from sheet music"]
J. Cegiełła "Muzyka, miłość i mitomani”, Latarnik, Warszawa, 2012 ["Music, love and mythomaniacs"]
J. Ekiert "Lustro epoki", Wydawnictwo Radia i Telewizji, Warszawa, 1988 ["Mirror of the epoch"]
W. Panek "Kariery i legendy", Instytut Wydawniczy Związków Zawodowych, 1988 ["Careers and legends"]
A. Szarłat "Pierwsze damy III Rzeczpospolitej", Wydawnictwo: W.A.B., Warszawa, 2016 ["Firts ladies of the Third Polish Republic"]
M. Sierotwińska-Rewicka "Rzeka Bernarda Ładysza", Collegium Columbinum, Kraków, 2006 ["Bernarda Ładysz’s River"]