Theatre and opera director Mark Weiss stages his final production of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Czarnamaska (Black Mask) for the Baltic Opera on March 20 in Warsaw. Czarnamaska is hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces of the contemporary opera as well as the most difficult opera Weiss has directed thus far. Weiss collaborated with musical director Szymon Morus to overcome this challenge of capturing the precise elements in Penderecki’s apocalyptic composition. The Baltic Opera creators have carefully selected and interpreted works for the repertoire with the conviction that a course of events is related to human acts of good and ill will rather than blind fortune.
On April 3, a new production of Penderecki’s Ubu Król (King Ubu), directed by Waldemar Zawodzinski, will be premiered at the Silesian Opera in Bytom. The world premiere of this opera, whose libretto is based on the play by French playwright Alfred Jarry, took place 25 years ago (1991) at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. The show involves 40 soloists, choir, ballet, and orchestra under the musical direction of Jurek Dybal and choreography of Janina Niesobska.
[Sources: pwm.com.pl, pwm.com.pl, operabaltycka.pl, dziennikzachodni.pl]