Bernard Ładysz, photo by Aleksander Ładysz, source: public domain (CC BY-SA 4.0)

He was 17 years old when the Second World War broke out. He was living in Vilnius at the time and had been studying singing for several years. He joined the Home Army and took part in the Storm (Polish: Burza) action in the Vilnius region. He was a man of extraordinary courage. In 1944, he was arrested by the NKVD and imprisoned in Kaluga-on-Oka in the Soviet Union, where he remained until 1946. He came to “people’s” Poland in 1947. In Warsaw, he took up vocal studies at the Fryderyk Chopin State Music Academy under the direction of Professor Wacław Filipowicz. His musical career began in 1946 in the Representative Band of the Polish Army. In 1950, he was engaged by the Warsaw Opera, where he debuted in the part of Prince Griemin in Peter Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Of great importance for his career was winning first prize at a singing competition in 1956 in Vercelli, which opened great opportunities for his further career. In 1959, the Italian conductor Tullio Serafin entrusted this Polish artist with parts in Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic opera, Lucia di Lammermoor. The work was created with the participation of world famous artists, including Maria Callas and Piero Cappuccilli. Bernard Ładysz also achieved great success in 1960 at the Warsaw Opera, where he played the title role of Boris Godunov in Modest Mussorgsky’s opera. He also appeared in films, including Znachor (dir. Jerzy Hoffman) and Ziemia Obiecana (dir. Andrzej Wajda). He also worked with the Syrena Theatre in Warsaw. Ładysz died in Warsaw the day after his 98th birthday, on 25 July 2020.