The son of an estate owner, he founded a musical society already in Warsaw already at about 20 years old, and made his first public
appearances in that context. He fought World War I as well as the Polish-Soviet War (1919–21), then he studied voice in Kyiv and
Warsaw, and gave concerts in many Polish places. In 1924, he got a beginner's
contract at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, singing small parts like Triquet or Parpignol, but also Léopold; in Lwów (today
Lviv and part of Ukraine), he was already Gounod's Faust. In Warsaw, his roles grew bigger, and he was a regular guest in Lwów.
In 1928, he appeared in Vienna, and got a permanent contract in Dresden for one season, then in Braunschweig for three seasons.
After singing in Amsterdam in 1931/32, he was hired by the Paris-based Opéra Russe, where he had great success as Grigorij (not
just in Paris proper, but also in Brussels and Antwerp). In 1933/34, he sang in Teplice-Šanov, then in Zürich
(1934–36).
In 1936, he returned to Poland and sang in Warsaw, Lwów and Poznań. In 1944, he participated in the anti-Nazi Warsaw
Uprising, after whose suppression he was deported to Germany with his wife. They returned in 1948; Salecki was henceforth primarily a
teacher and sang but occasionally in public – the last time in 1984, however!!
His success as Grigorij notwithstanding, he was primarily a lyrical tenor: Indian Guest, Lenskij, Stefan (Straszny dwór),
Duca, Rinuccio, Cavaradossi, but almost inevitably also Jontek.
Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens; reference
2; reference 3: Youtube channel "jurek46pink"
