King Roger

Opera in three acts
Libretto: Karol Szymanowski, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz
World premiere: 19 June 1926, Warsaw
Premiere of this production: 2 December 2018, Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera
Co-producted by: Royal Swedish Opera; National Theatre, Prague
In the original Polish with English surtitles
Please note the production uses strobes. 

The imagination was on fire, stimulated by the Mediterranean heat and the mysterious legends of an Italian island. The creation of a fairy-tale world inspired by medieval Sicily took place at the time when in the south of Russia, in Ukraine, in Yelisavetgrad, Odessa and Tymoszówka – the composer’s lost family estate – the war was raging on. For Szymanowski and his cousin, Iwaszkiewicz – the author of the libretto – 'coming up with illusory worlds' constituted a hope for survival in this difficult time. The world premiere of King Roger was held at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, after two years of Szymanowski’s efforts. It was to be the crowing point of his fascination with antiquity and the oriental world, but it turned out to be a disaster. Mariusz Treliński’s production of King Roger enthralled the audiences in Warsaw, Wrocław, Saint Petersburg and Edinburgh. Years later, he returns to it once more with a new staging based on the dramaturgy of Piotr Gruszczyński. As usual, he follows the music – sharp, expressive and beautiful. At times Dionysian, although closer to ice than the Sun. He constructs his world with the sophisticated imagery of the indefectible Boris Kudlička. Who will Szymanowski’s hero turn out to be today – a confident ruler, a happy husband, a man who thought he had it all, clashing with a powerful force that will undermine his achievements and force him to re-evaluate his entire life? As usual, Treliński elicits from the character expanses of his fragility. He astonishes and ventures into painful territories. He takes the viewer out of his comfort zone, away from what is safe and predictable.

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera

Dancers, actors, and children of the Artos Children's Choir