Vincerò! Arias from Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Andrea Chenier, Turandot, Edgar, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, La fanciulla del West, Gianni Schicchi, and Fedora Piotr Beczała, tenor; Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana; Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana; Marco Boemi, cond. Pentatone PTC 5186733 SACD (15 May 2020) For those who miss the opera house…Continue Reading New Beczala Release on Pentatone
In its most ambitious effort yet to bring the joy and artistry of opera to audiences everywhere during this season of closure, the Metropolitan Opera has invited some of the greatest contemporary opera stars to participate in an “At Home Gala,” singing from their home. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, April 25…Continue Reading 2020 Met Gala “At Home” features Polish Artists
Several Polish composers were featured at the 2018 International Bienniale for Electroacoustic Music at Studio PANorama in São Paulo, Brazil. In particular, Elżbieta Sikora–who celebrates her 75th birthday this year–and Krzysztof Knittel were highlighted, with concerts on October 10 and 11 dedicated entirely to their music. The festival also presented concerts curated by these two pioneers of electronic music, which included works by their…Continue Reading Polish Composers at Electroacoustic Bienniale in São Paulo
Olimpia z Gdańska [Olympia of Gdańsk], a new opera by Polish composer Zygmunt Krauze, will be presented by the Opera Bałtycka in Gdańsk in its World Premiere performance on November 20, 2015. The main performers are Anna Mikołajczyk (Stanisława), Jan Monowid (Robespierre), and Monika Ledzion (Olimpia). As described by Director Jerzy Lech, this opera “defies…Continue Reading New Opera By Krauze
The opera Czarodziejska Góra [The Magic Mountain] was given its world premiere on June 26, 2015 at the Malta Festival in Poznań, Poland. This opera is a joint work of four creators: composer Paweł Mykietyn, director and actor Andrzej Chyra, playwright Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk and visual artist Mirosław Bałka. The libretto is based on the famous…Continue Reading Premiere of Magic Mountain
Starting May 1, the Royal Opera House will present a new staging of Karol Szymanowski’s sumptuously scored opera, Król Roger [King Roger]. According to the ROH website, “Kasper Holten’s new production (The Royal Opera’s first) finds in Roger’s indecision an expression of the struggle we all face – the struggle between intelligence and instinct in…Continue Reading Król Roger In London
The Grand Theatre in Poznań had commissioned a new opera by Aleksander Nowak, Space Opera, czyli mężczyzna, kobieta i…. [Space Opera, or a Man, a Woman, and…], which will be premiered in Poznań on March 14, 2015. The libretto of the opera is by Georgi Gospodinow and the premiere will be conducted by Marek Moś….Continue Reading Nowak Premiere & Opera Conference In Poznań
On November 5-6, 2014, the FuturOpera project was presented at the Warsaw Chamber Opera. The project encompassed three chamber opera creations by contemporary composers of the young generation: Wasserstimmen by Dariusz Przybylski (a criminal opera based on a primaeval Inuit legend), Labirynt Orfeja [Orpheus’ Labyrinth] by Nikolet Burzyńska (a synthesis of selected threads from Greek and Slavic mythology) and Three Tall Tales of Doctor Monsieur Façade by Ryan Latimer (a…Continue Reading FuturOpera Premieres
Besides his monumental ethnographic research, Oskar Kolberg also composed a number of vocal works, including an opera: Król Pasterzy [King of Shepherds]. It was shown in Kraków on June 3, 2014, 155 years after its premiere. This one-act work to a libretto by the romantic poet Teofil Lenartowicz depicts an idyllic setting in the rural…Continue Reading Kolberg’s Opera Revived
The rarely-performed Cud mniemany czyli Krakowiacy i Górale [An Apparent Miracle or The Cracovians and the Highlanders] is the first example of Polish opera, composed by Jan Stefani to a libretto by Wojciech Bogusławski. Premiered in Warsaw in 1794 to a wild public reception, it was the first Polish work to prominently use folk melodies,…Continue Reading Oldest Polish Opera Performed In Bydgoszcz