National Folk Song and Dance Ensemble Mazowsze https://www.mazowsze.waw.pl/en/stanislaw-jopek-vocal-c/stanislaw-jopek/695,Stanislaw-Jopek.html 2021-09-28, 03:33

Stanisław Jopek Stanisław Jopek was born in 1935, in .

Legend has it that he StanisławStanisław JopekJopek was born on stage. In fact, there is a grain of truth in this story...

Stanisław Jopek was born in 1935, in Lviv. Legend has it that he was born on stage. In fact, there is a grain of truth in this story. In the years before World War II, the people of Lviv were famous for their passion for singing and performing. They were known as people of generous hearts, gifted with numerous talents, a sense of humor, and cheerfulness. The Jopek family members sang, too, both when they still lived in Lviv, and after the post-war repatriation, when the family moved to Kościerzyce in Lower Silesia. “I think smiling has been ingrained in my DNA. I was born and raised in our joyful Lviv. I was a cheerful Lviv batiar [a spontaneous Lviv street singer]. Then, when I was with Mazowsze, I was constantly reminded to keep a smile on my face. Folklore is pure joy, and you just can't dance and sing if you don't have that joy inside your heart. I think I do have it, and that it defines my whole life,” he said in an interview for Dziennik Zachodni on February 21, 2003.

Stanisław Jopek was famous for his unique voice – a with a touch of baritone. He was gifted with a great talent and stage charisma. However, the audiences admired not only the timbre of his voice – they were also delighted with the mastery of his performance.

Singing in 36 languages

With Mazowsze, Stanisław Jopek traveled all over the world. He visited over 100 countries, for example China, Japan, Argentina, Egypt, France, and Great Britain. Wherever he appeared, he inspired admiration and love.

In New York City, he met Artur Rubinstein, , and Marta Eggerth. He was invited to an audition by the ’s director. In Paris, as he confided in an interview, he was approached and offered a job by the director of the Moulin Rouge. During his foreign trips, he made friends with the popular French actor, Robert Hossein, and he met generals Władysław Anders and Tadeusz Bór- Komorowski in London. As Super Express reports on October 27, 2000, “The most unusual meeting, according to Stanisław Jopek, was the one with North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. Why? 'As souvenirs, he gave us . . . Omega watches with personalized inscriptions,' explained Jopek.”

The song that changed his life

After the post-war expulsion from Lviv, Stanisław Jopek attended two schools at the same time – a school of commerce and a music school in Brzeg Dolny.

His talent and skills were quickly noticed by the headmistress of the music school, Eugenia Kryńska, who encouraged him to join the folk ensemble Skolimów. During auditions in 1952, Jopek delighted the jury and was accepted into the ensemble. As its member, he gained the basics of musical education and began dreaming about a career as an opera singer. He studied under the supervision of professionals - Professor Jerzy Sergiusz Adamczewski, Prof. Feliks Rudomski, Prof. Jan Trybus, and Prof. Zofia Brégy. During one of the concerts, he was spotted by one of the creators of Mazowsze - Mira Zimińska- Sygietyńska. She invited him to join the ensemble, but Jopek was not convinced. At the time, he preferred classical music to folklore. “The decision came with the song (it was probably 'Cyt, cyt' ['Shh, Shh']), sung by Mazowsze choir during a rehearsal. I was delighted not only with the sound, but also how each of the words was distinct and clear. I thought that no opera choir would sing like that,” he said later.

However, the decision might have never been taken but for Mira's persistence and shrewdness, as well as a simple coincidence – Stanisław Jopek was going to be incorporated into the army. “Mira Zimińska- Sygietyńska, who had previously seen me on stage, asked if I wanted to serve on the Polish border, or go with Mazowsze to London. I chose London [...]” he said in an interview for Lublin's Gazeta Wyborcza on January 6, 2003.

In 1956, Stanisław Jopek started to perform as Mazowsze's soloist, and since then he sang with the ensemble at every concert, until his retirement. He sang in 36 languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Finnish, and Arabic, mostly the most popular folk songs of a given country. His repertoire also included arias from operas, as well as songs by Chopin and Moniuszko and Polish Christmas carols. “No other country has such beautiful carols as ,” he said in an interview given to Trybuna on November 22, 2005.

Although he could, he did not emigrate when martial law in Poland was declared in 1981. He did not take the opportunity to settle in Canada, where his parents lived.

Stanisław Jopek: "The First Carter of Poland"

Jopek sang his signature song, 'Furman' ['The Carter'], from the first days of his time with Mazowsze. The song was presented in London for the first time, a few weeks after he joined the group. “I thought I'd sing it for a year, maybe two, and it turned out that I've been doing it all my life. Wherever I go, the audience demands 'Furman' and this is amazing, because I have a lot of other songs in the repertoire, over fifty, some of them are really fantastic, and yet I always have to to sing ’Furman’,” emphasized the artist.

'Furman' brought Jopek fame in Poland and abroad. Its melody was taken by Sygietyński from the collection of Polish folk songs compiled by the 19th century etnographer and folklorist Oskar Kolberg. The lyrics are eleven stanzas of strident satire on , the authories, the economy, etc. Stanisław Jopek sometimes wondered if the censorship would accept the lyrics of 'Furman' and he usually sang only three stanzas. But when the audience demanded more, he didn’t refrain. As he was singing, with more spirit, he was reminded of his childhood, when he used to run a team of horses. He would imagine he was that boy again, urging the horses to go faster, so that they wouldn't be caught by his father, who didn't allow him to drive.

The horse does not ask or demand, but its hooves are really hard,

And when it bucks, at times the hooves might reach the farmer.

Hey ho, let's go!

'Furman' always caused thunderous applause. The song accompanied Polish history in difficult moments, for instance in 1956, 1968, 1970, 1981, and 1989. The authorities came and went, but Stanisław Jopek was irreplaceable. Nobody ever took the song away from him, no one even tried to sing as a substitute.

Music above all

And what about his private life? He met his future wife Mariola Stankiewicz in Mazowsze. Stanisław Jopek is the father of the well known singer Anna Maria Jopek. He sang Christmas carols in a duet with her, including 'Jezus malusieńki' ['Little Baby Jesus'] and 'Witaj gwiazdo złota' ['Welcome Golden Star']. As Anna Maria Jopek says, their family home recognized a very specific hierarchy of values. It is accurately illustrated in the anecdote told by the artist's daughter in one of the interviews. One day, she was studying for a biology test. “My father entered and said 'Let's go and see at the opera house.' I replied that I had a test the next day and I needed to study biology. 'I am sure Carmen will delight you, and you will always remember it, unlike tomorrow's test,' dad said. Indeed, the singer didn't remember what the test was about, but she remembered Carmen for life.

As a father, Jopek wanted to be sure that his children would receive a thorough musical education. He wanted Anna Maria to be a pianist. She graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in the Piano Departament, but she decided to follow the footsteps of her father and became a singer. Stanisław Jopek's other daughter, Patrycja, is an outstanding violinist.

Stanisław Jopek used to say he was a lucky man, and Mazowsze was the best university of music and the best school of his life. Here he met the two women who had the greatest impact on his life - Mariola Stankiewicz, who became his wife, and Mira Zimińska-Sygietyńska, who, as he emphasized, had taught him humbleness towards music and art. 'In my youth, I dreamed of performing for the opera, at least once. But although I was trained for the opera, if I were to choose today, I would choose folklore again,' he said on the occasion of his 50th artistic anniversary. Mira Zimińska-Sygietyńska also taught Jopek respect for the audience. What advice did she give him? “ 'No matter if it's New York City or Radom, sing as if you were to sing for the last time, and God gave you the opportunity to do it.' It was my credo,” he admitted in an interview.

An abundance of awards

Stanisław Jopek received numerous awards. Among them, he received the Arion statuette, awarded by ZASP [Polish Stage Artists Association] to the best singers, and the title of “Outstanding Folklore Singer”, also from ZASP. For outstanding merit and spreading of national culture in Poland and abroad, he was also awarded several state orders, for example the Gold Cross of Merit, the Order of Polonia Restituta Fifth Class – the Knight's Cross, the Order of Polonia Restituta Fourth Class – the Officer's Cross, and the Order of Polonia Restituta Third Class – the Commander's Cross.

He gradually gained what is most valuable for an artist and a singer: the recognition and love of the audience as well as a presence on the greatest stages in the world. His performances inspired admiration and enthusiasm in Poland and abroad. The language barrier virtually disappeared when faced with the talent of Stanisław Jopek. Even indigenously Polish songs were received with appreciation.

He died on August 1, 2006 in . The artist's funeral took place on August 7, 2006 in the Saint Charles Borromeo Church, at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

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