On August 19th, a special event will take place in a special place. The so-called "Pearl of Żeliszów" is a neoclassical former evangelical church from 1797 in the small village of Żeliszów (former Giersdorf), 15 km south of Boleslawiec, most likely designed by the famous architect Carl Gotthard Langhans. This probability is based on the fact that in the Silesian region there are two other churches with a similar oval hall: the Evangelical Church in Waldenburg (Wałbrzych) and Reichenbach (Dzierżoniów). However, the church in Żeliszów is entirely in the oval style: these rounded shapes and classical simplicity (columns, galleries, round windows) surprise everyone who enters this building. What's more, this architectural gem is now in a state of revitalization: the state of semi-ruin adds even more charm to the interior. In the afternoon, when the setting sun shines through the windows, incredibly effective lighting effects are created in the hall, which ensure that the church, also known as the "Pearl of Żeliszów", is loved and used today by photographers and filmmakers from all over the world: the pictures and videos with the magical light and the beauty of the interior went around the world and made the place world famous. But it's all thanks to a small foundation, Your Heritage Foundation (Fundacja Twoje Dziedzictwo), which took over the hopeless ruin exactly 10 years ago and slowly brought it back to life. Today, the Pearl has a loyal group of fans who follow the cultural happenings and at the same time are committed to the further rehabilitation of this monument.
The cooperation of idealists
Since 2018 there has been a cooperation between the Görlitz (our) association Ars Augusta e.V. and the foundation "Your Heritage". The chairwoman and founder of Ars Augusta e.V., opera singer Eleni Ioannidou, immediately saw the Pearl as the perfect venue for opera and theater. The audience could sit on the galleries in two rows, reminiscent of an Italian theater, while the music played in the hall. The fact that the monument was a former church encouraged the idea of rededicating it as a place for music and theater, a house of culture and international understanding. A friendship began with the founders of the "Your Heritage Foundation", Thinloth and Wilk Korwin-Szymanowski, and a close cooperation in the search for funding for further renovation.
The tower of the church was renovated with grants from the Polish-German Foundation for Monument Protection and the Erika Simon Foundation, the galleries with grants from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which also provided a generous donation that year for the renovation of the floor. In addition, the foundation received important support from the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, while the use of the location for films and photos continues to procure funds. Above all, however, is the voluntary work of idealists that saves this monument.
Ars Augusta, in cooperation with Mrs. Kempgen (Evangelical Silesia Foundation), organized two concerts in the Perle to collect donations for further renovation. In one of these concerts, Eleni Ioannidou, accompanied by Zofia Dynak, sang Schubert songs and music by Mozart. But then slowly the dream of the opera in the Pearl began to become reality. A workshop for young musicians on the Italian madrigal had its final concert there (2020). A staged concert was performed in 2021: The project "Silesian Apollo" with madrigals by Heinrich Schütz and Andreas Hammerschmidt based on poems by Martin Opitz, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media in the Silesian Museum in Görlitz and the Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik e.V., played in the Hall of the Pearl in Zeliszów. And then in 2023, as part of the 34th Silesian Music Festival, Ars Augusta staged the first complete opera in the Pearl: Pergolesi's "La serva padrona". The beginning has happened now. This beautiful example of Polish-German cooperation should be further deepened, and because we are speaking of a renaissance: there is so much to rediscover in the cultural heritage of the region, which 300 years ago was a cultural area full of theatre, opera and music! The Bohemian Catholic rulers were big fans of music, especially Italian music, which was ubiquitous in Vienna. In every small town in Lower Silesia, the princes had a theater for which many composers from Vienna and even Venice wrote operas. One of them, "Issipile" by Antonio Bioni, written for the Wrocław Opera in 1732, was already performed by Ars Augusta as a film production in cooperation with the Castle Opera in Szczecin 2021. This inheritance had hitherto been completely forgotten, and how unjust!
We now have the opportunity to rediscover these works and thus become more aware of the historical richness of our region. We really are sitting on treasures and should get to know them slowly. Cross-border cooperation between institutions can help! The renaissance is already here.
The story of David
Wasn't that similar in the story of David? She is narrated in the Book of Samuels in the Old Testament. David was a poor boy who loved music and became God's chosen and king of Israel.
God revoked his favoritism with Saul, king of Israel, because he refused to cut off the Amalekites and all that belonged to them. He then sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to search among the sons of Jesse for a new king of Israel. The latter made seven of his sons appear before Samuel, but none of them were the chosen one. Then Samuel asked him if he had any other sons, and Jesse replied that the youngest, David, who had fawn hair and good looks, tended the sheep.
When he was brought before him, God said to Samuel, "Rise, anoint him, for it is he."
Meanwhile, an evil spirit entered Saul and tormented him after he had been rejected by God. One of his servants suggested that he bring a zitherist, David, who would ease his suffering with the sound of his lyre. Saul joined David and made him his armor bearer. Whenever the evil spirit came to Saul, David would play the harp and calm him down and the evil spirit would go away.
The most famous biblical episode about David, as recorded in 1 Samuel, is that of his battle with Goliath, the Philistine giant who terrorized the Jews and challenged them to a duel.
The Jews encamped in the Terebinth Valley, led by their king Saul, were at war with the Philistines, who counted in their ranks a fearsome giant named Goliath. For forty days Goliath challenged the army of Israel, waiting for them to decide which of them would face him: the victor would allow his people to subdue the loser's.
David was asked by his father to go to the brothers in the camp, bring food and inquire about their condition. While in camp, David heard another challenge from Goliath and offered to face Saul himself. He said he was able to kill bears and lions to defend his flock. Saul clothed him in his own armor, but David, not being able to move in that armor, stripped it off and set off for the battlefield with his slingshot and five smooth stones he had collected from a stream. When Goliath saw it was a boy, he mocked him. But David took one of the stones he had with him and slung it with his slingshot, hitting the giant in the forehead and dropping him dead on the ground. David lunged at him and beheaded him using Goliath's own sword. The Philistines fled but were pursued and decimated by the Israelites. The victory made David famous among the Jews and earned him the friendship of Jonathan, son of King Saul. David later married the king's daughter, Michal.
"David" sings now in the Pearl
This story fits beautifully to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the "Your Heritage" foundation in the Perle, which was former a church, then a ruin and now revitalized as a "temple of light and arts". As with the action of a higher spirit, but also with courage and faith like David had, the foundation and their friends were able to save this place from destruction.
The performance of Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf's oratorio "David in the Valley of Terebinth" on August 19 is particularly important for two other reasons. It is the first collaboration between the two foundations ("Ars Augusta" in Germany and "Twoje dziedzictwo" in Poland) with the Czech Republic and the ensemble "Studio Volantes" from Olomouc. And the second reason is that it is the first opera by Karl Ditters presented here. The Viennese composer wrote this oratorio here in Silesia, where he spent a large part of his life and wrote over 30 operas, oratorios and other symphonic works. Karl Ditters is also referred to as the "opera composer from Silesia". A renaissance of the so important and sadly forgotten composer is long overdue.
Karl Ditters was born in Vienna in 1739. It was a time when Italian conductors and librettists like Metastasio were active in Vienna: the Baroque soon brought the classics, Gluck reformed opera with his "Orfeo ed Euridice" in 1763, Mozart followed directly after him and opera became the most important art form throughout Europe!
In addition to the well-known opera composers, many smaller ones contributed to this historical development: they founded ensembles in small towns, wrote operas, trained the audience and the musicians, brought new trends! Around the time after Gluck, in the midst of the Enlightenment, efforts began to create a national opera that was closer to the people: the Singspiel was sung and performed in German. Karl Ditters lived precisely in this period of transition from Rococo to Classic: He studied and worked with the Italians in Vienna (Giuseppe Bonno) and traveled to Italy with Gluck, where he was also celebrated as a violin virtuoso. And then he received an invitation from the bishop of Breslau to come to Silesia to shape the musical life in the summer residence of the bishops in Jauernick (Castle Johannesberg/Jansky Vrch). He stayed there for 24 years: he collected and trained local musicians. Later he invited well-known singers to join the ensemble in Johannesberg Castle. Wrote operas and oratorios, which unfortunately are still unknown. The princes, bishops and dukes of the region acted as patrons in a difficult time for the arts (Seven Years' War and the Silesian Wars). Karl Ditters struggled with illness and poverty towards the end of his life. But princes like Karl Christian Erdmann (Württembergisch-Oels, between 1790-1793) and later the Bohemian nobleman Freiherr Ignaz von Stillfried had taken him to their estates. The latter gave the impoverished composer a home in Nový Dvůr in the Czech Republic, where he died in 1799. Karl Ditters is therefore a common cultural heritage between Vienna, Wroclaw and Olomouc. And Saxony is also connected to it, because in 1885 the Duke of Oels gave his library to the Saxon King Albert, who gave this extensive music archive to the Saxon State and University Library in Dresden. Today there are around 90 manuscripts by Karl Ditters in Dresden, most of which are waiting to be rediscovered. Ars Augusta is planning this for 2025, the year in which the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Wrocław Opera will be celebrated. We would even like to present the production of one of the operas from the Oels Archive not only as part of the Silesian Music Festival, but also for the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz.
For all these reasons, this first collaboration with "Studio Volantes" from Olomouc on the Pearl of Zeliszow and "Davide" is of great importance. We invite all friends of opera, music, cultural heritage and the projects of our foundations to celebrate all this: the 10th anniversary of the Your Heritage Foundation, the first collaboration with Studio Volantes, the rediscovery of Karl Ditters, the perspective of 2025. Support us in this.
Big names for "Davide" on August 19th
The event will be a cultural event with top-class musicians and artists. The well-known Slovenian director Rocc is responsible for the scenic production. Born in Liubljana in 1979, the extraordinary stage designer and director has already staged over 70 productions on the most important stages in the region and worldwide. In 2017 he also staged Beethoven's "Fidelio" at the Wrocław Opera. But he was also the artistic director of the Prague Opera and is a permanent cooperator at the opera houses in Brno, Opava and at festivals such as the Olomouc Baroque Festival.
The director discovered pictures of the Pearl from the production of our association "Silesian Apollo" and was amazed by the magic of the place, so he contacted us. This is how a promising collaboration began.
Davide was first performed again in Brno Cathedral in 2021. The singers were a selection of the best young performers from the Czech region: Doubravka Součková (soprano, David), Aco Aleksander Bišćević (tenor, Saul), Helena Hozová (soprano, Jonathan), Jiří Miroslav Procházka (bass, Abner) and Aneta Petrasová (alto, Eliab) have already sung on major stages and festivals, including the Salzburg Festival. The production also brings together dancers and choir: all together accompanied by the Orchestra Volantes conducted by Marek Čermák. These are big stars that we are expecting at the Pearl on August 19th.
The high costs are partially covered by a fund of Saxon-Czech cooperation in a project bringing together Ars Augusta and Studio Volantes. In recent months we have been communicating very actively (thanks to Google Meet and What's App) to enable the ensemble to stay and rehearse in Zeliszów at a time when the Boleslawiec Ceramics Festival is also taking place. A big thank you to the local institutions of Zeliszów for their support.
Tourists with a passion for culture can not only visit the beautiful region and the Pearl of Zeliszow at the same time, but also see a high-quality musical work of early classicism and the ceramics festival in Bolesławiec.
Tickets for the event can be purchased from the Ars Augusta association: the modest ticket costs 60 zloty (13 euros) and helps the further renovation of the Pearl by half the price. In addition, there is the possibility of making donations to all three associations and thus supporting our NGOs and further commitment to the region and culture.
Link to buy the tickets
Foto: Monika Cichoszewska
