Thaddeus Wronski

{{short description|Opera singer (1887–1965)}}

{{use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}

Thaddeus Ziembinski Wronski (born Tadeusz; 13 September 1887Michigan, Federal Naturalization Records, 1887–1931 – 24 May 1965) was a Polish-American opera singer, theatrical manager, teacher, and innovator. He dedicated much of his life to innovative approaches to teaching singers.

Born in Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland, he studied in Warsaw, Milan, and Paris under Vincenzo Maria Pintorno, Maria Maddalena Fratini, André Caplet, the brothersÉdouard and Jean de Reszke.{{cite magazine |title=Music: Detroit's Formula |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,741568,00.html |accessdate=29 November 2019 |magazine=Time |date=4 May 1931}} He first went to the United States in 1911 and immigrated in 1913.{{cite journal |last=Herter |first=Joseph A. |date=September 2003 |title=Tadeusz Wronski — Father of Detroit Opera |url=http://pmc.usc.edu/news/sep03.html |journal=Polish Music Newsletter |publisher=Polish Music Center of the University of Southern California |volume=9 |issue=9 |issn=1098-9188}} As a baritone, he initially sang for the Boston Opera, but, he did not abandon his native land, Poland. He worked with Ignacy Jan Paderewiski to raise over $500,000 for Poland and recruited men for the Polish army during World War I. He became the head of the National Recording Studio launching his lifelong work to improve singing through the use of phonographic technology.{{cite magazine |date=November 28, 1918 |title=Thaddeus Wronski Opens Studios in New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HO86AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA10-PA51 |magazine=Musical Courier|volume=77 |page=7}} In 1921, he returned from a trip to Poland and planned to open a studio in New York City.{{cite news |title=To Present Polish Opera – Thaddeus Wronski Arrives on the Lorraine to Arrange Tour|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/03/29/archives/to-present-polish-opera-thaddeus-wronski-arrives-on-the-lorraine-to.html|access-date=11 November 2023|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 29, 1921}} In that same year, he published The Singer And His Art.{{cite book |last1=Wronski |first1=Thaddeus |last2=Levbarg |first2=John F. |date=1921 |title=The Singer and his Art |url=https://archive.org/details/singerhisart00wron |publisher=Appleton}}{{cite journal |last=Carter |first=Scott A. |date=January 2013 |title=Forging a Sound Citizenry: Voice Culture and the Embodiment of the Nation, 1880–1920 |journal=The American Music Research Center Journal|volume=22 }}

He moved to Detroit initially as a teacher, but, he became the director of the Detroit Civic Opera from 1928 to 1938.{{cite book |last=Federal Writers' Program |date=1949 |title=Michigan, a Guide to the Wolverine State |publisher=Oxford University Press |oclc=2770099}} His production of Aida in 1930 incorporated the use of African-American actors, a dramatic move for that era. In 1938, the Detroit company began to struggle financially and he resigned moving to Los Angeles in 1939. In California, he pursued his hope to improve American singing through recording technology. He prepared a set of recordings of commonly sung pieces without the voice]. This "music minus one" approach gives singers an opportunity to develop their skills without the need for a live accompanist or group. Eventually moving to San Diego, he died there in 1965.California, Death Index, 1940–1997