On 25 April 2021 at 7.00 p.m. the world premiere of Krzesimir Dębski‘s Job—an opera based on Karol Wojtyła’s drama—will be held online through the YouTube channel of the Polish Royal Opera.
“I myself wrote a new drama with Greek form, Christian spirit, eternal content […]. A drama about suffering: Job”. This is how the twenty-year-old Karol Wojtyła, who would later become Pope John Paul II, wrote about his work in 1940 in a letter to his friend, Mieczysław Kotlarczyk. The young playwright read the Old Testament tale of innocent suffering and the steadfastness of faith from a Christological perspective and saw its parallel with the fate of Poland, plunged in the horrors of war. As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Polish Pope and the 80th anniversary of the creation of this extremely mature and symbol-rich text, the Polish Royal Opera hosts a contemporary musical interpretation of the story of Job.
Krzesimir Dębski’s opera is full of bold juxtapositions of archaic language with modern orchestration techniques and the captivating sound of the choir’s commentary, reminiscent of a Greek tragedy. It is not without significance that the premiere of the work, originally planned for May 2020, had to be postponed due to the pandemic that spread across almost the entire world. For that same reason, it was not possible to present the concert version of the work in October 2020. Perhaps, however, all these difficult circumstances will strengthen the universal message of the work. It is, as the composer himself emphasizes, “an opera […] about the fate of a man who has fallen into misfortunes and then arises from this fall”.
25 April 2021 | 7.00 p.m.
Job by Karol Wojtyła and Krzesimir Dębski
Online Premiere: viewable on the Polish Royal Opera YouTube channel
More information at: www.operakrolewska.pl
[Source: polmic.pl ]