There was a strong Polish presence at the January 29 opening of the Metropolitan Opera’s new double-bill of two rarely performed operas: Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. A co-production of the Met and Warsaw’s Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera, both operas are staged by acclaimed Polish director Mariusz Treliński, in his Met debut. The double-bill also features Polish tenor Piotr Beczała as Count Vaudémont at the first-ever Met performance of Iolanta.
Mariusz Treliński, artistic director of Warsaw’s Polish National Opera, makes his Met debut this season with this new production. The Polish film, theater, and opera director made his opera debut in 1999 with an acclaimed production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Polish National Opera and has since directed at the Mariinsky Theatre, Welsh National Opera, the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and Teatro Comunale in Bologna.
Polish tenor Piotr Beczala opened the Met’s 2013-14 season as Lensky in Eugene Onegin, and returned last winter to sing the Prince in Dvorak’s Rusalka. This season marks his first North American performance as Count Tristan Vaudémont, a role he has sung at the Salzburg Festival and the Baden-Baden Festival. Beczala made his Met debut in 2006 as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto and has since sung the title character in Gounod’s Faust, the Chevalier des Grieux in the new production premiere of Manon, Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème, and Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
Performance Dates:
Thursday, Jan. 29 @ 7:30 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 3 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, Feb. 7 @ 8:00 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 10 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, Feb. 14 @ 12:30 pm
Wednesday, Feb. 18 @ 7:30 pm
Saturday, Feb. 21 @ 8:00 pm
[Source: press release via polishculture-nyc.org]