Pole position
The Mariinsky Theater revives a Polish opera and takes it to Edinburgh. By Galina Stolyarova
Staff Writer
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For The St. Petersburg Times
The last act of Karol Szymanowski’s 1926 opera “Krol Roger” which premiered at the Mariinsky Theater last week.
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The decadent charm, surreal plot and expressionist score of Karol Szymanowski’s philosophical 1926 opera “Krol Roger” (King Roger) captivated the audience at the Mariinsky Theater on July 16 as the work enjoyed its Russian premiere. The opening night saw Polish soloists Andrzej Dobber (Roger) and Elzbieta Szmytka (Roger’s wife Roxana) joining the Mariinsky cast in this Mariusz Trelinski production with stage designs by Boris Kudlieka that originally premiered at the Wroclaw Opera House. Set in Sicily in the 12th century, the opera was inspired by the composer’s travels across the Mediterranean and the East. When he first traveled to Sicily at the age of 29, Szymanowski was enthralled by Mediterranean culture, a melting pot of religions, traditions and ethnicities. The opera explores interpenetration of Byzantine, Arabic, Greek and Western European cultural influences. Szymanowski’s lyrical, expressionist score bears influences of Scriabin and Richard Strauss while retaining its originality. In the first act, subtitled “Byzantine,” Roger meets an enigmatic Shepherd — who reveals himself as an incarnation of the Greek god Dionysus in the last act of the piece — at a Catholic service in Palermo. The archbishop uses all his influence to persuade the king to execute the shepherd but Roxana convinces her husband to grant the mysterious man an audience instead. The opera opens in a dark auditorium, with chairs, walls and ceiling wrapped in black, and very little light. There are no icons or other religious symbols in the interiors, and when the choir enters, dressed in red catholic vestments, their bright robes provide a striking contrast to the chilling blackness of the hall and serve to create a powerful and hypnotic religious atmosphere. The king, the queen and the other members of the congregation are dressed in dark formal clothes and hardly move around. The sudden appearance of the herdsman — barefoot, his hair and loose white garments a mess — sends a shock through the church. The Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra overpowered the soloists in the production, excelling in the romantic lyrical passages and putting the singers in the shade. Dobber offered a deep, masculine and ascetic take on King Roger. Vocally adroit, the soloist portrayed his character’s profound transformation with poignant drama and in keeping with the philosophical bent and mystical flair of the opera.
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For The St. Petersburg Times
Pavlo Tolstoy (top) as the Shepherd and Elzbieta Szmytka (bottom) as the Queen in the second act of 'King Roger.' The production will be presented at the Edinburgh Festival in August.
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Szmytka brought languid sensuality to her interpretation of Roxana, giving a magnificent performance, her lyrical soaring soprano demonstrating volume and passion, mesmerizing in the high and tender notes. Kudlieka avoids the period approach: the church interiors are high-tech, the royal couple are dressed in modern fashionable clothes, while Roger’s palace in Act II has stylish low sofas and transparent folding screens. Trelinski staged the opera as a philosophical parable that centers around the conflict between the king and the shepherd that in the end sees the spiritual rebirth of the ruler of Sicily. Eroticism and enticement abound in the second “Oriental” act as the charming shepherd enters the palace and begins to seduce Roger with hedonistic temptations. The king is furious to see his wife responding to these alluring calls. The final “Greco-Roman” act confines Roger to a hospital bed — he leaves it in the end, triumphing over Dionysian temptations, overcoming his fears, depression and jealousy, and emerging a new person. Trelinski is not new to Szymanowski’s operas. In 2000, Trelinski’s rendition of “Krol Roger” at the Teatr Wielki (Grand Theater) in Warsaw earned the director the respected Karol Szymanowski Prize which is awarded by the Karol Szymanowski Foundation. “Krol Roger” is the Mariinsky’s second acquisition of a Trelinski-Kudlieka production. In March 2005, the Mariinsky reproduced their internationally acclaimed rendition of Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly” which emphasized the cultural gap between East and West and was originally staged by the Polish National Opera in 1999. Born in Warsaw in 1961, Trelinski started out as a film director and gained international recognition for his work. He first tried his hand at opera with a contemporary chamber opera, Elzbieta Sikora’s “Wyrywacz Serc,” which translates into English as “The Usurper of Hearts,” based on the prose of Boris Vian, in 1995. “Krol Roger” is the first production for the Mariinsky cast — well-rehearsed in the German, French, Italian, British and Czech repertoires — that is sung in Polish. “I admire the musical tissue of this opera,” Gergiev said before the premiere on July 16. “I appreciate its closeness to the Russian school and especially Scriabin as well as its colorful orchestration and surreal flair. Undoubtedly, this rarely staged opera deserves a Renaissance and I’m glad that I can introduce audiences to such a beautiful work.”
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For The St. Petersburg Times
Elzbieta Szmytka (l) and Andrzej Dobber (r) as the Queen and King Roger in the last act of Karol Szymanowski’s opera.
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The Mariinsky is taking the new production to the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival where the company will be making a return after an absence of 13 years. “Krol Roger” will be performed at the festival on August 25 and 27. According to the festival’s new director Jonathan Mills, the Mariinsky looks set to become a regular at the world’s largest arts event. “I will be inviting them over and over again,” the manager said. In Edinburgh, as well as “Krol Roger,” the Mariinsky will present concert versions of Sergei Prokofiev’s opera “Semyon Kotko,” Sergei Rachmaninoff’s opera “Aleko” and Rodion Schedrin’s opera “The Enchanted Wanderer.” A composer himself, Mills devotes special attention to contemporary music and is especially interested in the works of living composers — something that makes the manager very close to Gergiev, whose recent presentations to St. Petersburg audiences have included, in addition to Schedrin’s opera, Thomas Ades’s “Powder Her Face” and a series of symphonic pieces and concertos by Henri Dutilleux. Mills, formerly head of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, first crossed paths with Gergiev back in 2000 when Mills visited St. Petersburg. An invitation to Melbourne for Gergiev and his troupe followed shortly after and the contact has since developed. Speaking to reporters before the premiere of “Krol Roger” last week, Mills said that the title of “Krol Roger” had first been mentioned between himself and Gergiev on the Mariinsky’s visit to Melbourne — the work was discussed at an open air nature reserve where there were kangaroos jumping around. “The theme of this year’s [Edinburgh] festival is Artists Without Borders, and my collaboration with Valery Gergiev has already broken down many borders,” Mills said. The manager sees festivals as journeys that inspire the artists and the audiences with an interest in their place in the world and their role as human beings. “This year’s festival invites you to embark upon an exciting and often confrontational journey along these cultural borders and beyond,” Mills said. “Artists from Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Georgia are juxtaposed with work from Lebanon, Turkey, Palestine, Israel and Iran — all territories with particular challenges on their own borders. Music from Orthodox Christian traditions is heard alongside devotional masterpieces from Islam.”
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