The premiere performance of the opera Ars Moriendi. Requiem Giocoso by Tomasz J. Opałka will take place on March 17 at the Polish Radio Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio in Warsaw. The work was commissioned by the Polish Royal Opera.
According to musicologist Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska, writing for the websites of POLMIC and the Polish Royal Opera:
The oldest Polish baroque presentation of the medieval motif was the starting point for the composition. The 17th century Dance of Death painting to be found in the Bernardines church in Cracow became an inspiration for Tomasz J. Opałka, one of the most interesting composers of young generation. The composition itself is quite special not only for the composer himself but also for the artists and friends of the Polish Royal Opera… The opera was founded on the initiative of the late Ryszard Peryt, whose life was inextricably linked with art in its tangible, but also transcendent dimension until the very end.
Baroque and folk inspirations, electronic music and modern orchestral texture come together in this tale about the inevitable ultimate end.
The premiere will be performed by the chamber choir and orchestra of the Polish Royal Opera, with Dawid Runtz conducting. Soloists include vocalists Joanna Freszel, Katarzyna Krzyżanowska, Anna Radziejewska, Rafał Żurek, Witold Żoładkiewicz, Paweł Michalczuk, Marcin Gadaliński, and Krzysztof Łazicki, as well as percussionist Leszek Lorent.
March 17, 2022 | 7:00 p.m. CET
Premiere of Ars Moriendi. Requiem Giocoso by Tomasz J. Opałka
Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio
ul. Modzelewskiego 59, 00-977 Warsaw, Poland
Tickets & Info: www.studianagran.com.pl
[Sources: polmic.pl, ewejsciowki.pl, operakrolewska.pl, facebook.com]