Cracow. The premiere of “Orpheus in Hell” at the Krakow Opera
mat. theater
“Work in the oeuvre of Jacques Offenbach, which after the initial thresholds and customary controversies brought him fame and fortune. The long-awaited Krakow premiere, the first postponed due to a pandem, will be held on September 30, 2021.
The mythological history of the tragic love of Orpheus and Eurydice is the cornerstone of musical theater. Symbolically after the first operation, climb Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, take off in 1600. The Orpheus myth was used by composers of various epochs, on its basis creating repertoire for the history of the genre, such as “Orpheus” by Claudio Monteverdi or “Orpheus and Eurydice” by Christoph Willibald Gluck (the staging by Giorgio Madia is included in the repertoire of the Krakow Opera). He was also fascinated by the twentieth century – he reached for Claude Debussy (he did not finish the work), Darius Milhaud from the work of the Big Six (“Les malheurs d’Orphée”), the avant-garde Pierre Schaeffer (“Orphée 51”), or the minimalist Philip Glass ( “Orpheus”). Even in 2020, Matthew Aucoin’s three-act work Eurydice was created for the Los Angeles Opera.
Nineteenth-century opera composers regularly returned to the themes of Pheus and Eurydice. Jacques Offenbach – by origin, called by Gioacchin Rossini “Mozart Champs-Élysées” – reached for him to use the Olympic gods to show the elite of the court of the Second Empire and its ruler, Jupiter, Napoleon III, in a crooked mirror.
While in the original version of the myth Orpheus boldly descends to Hades, not imagining a life without his beloved Eurydice, in Offenbach’s work the titular Luters are bored with each other – Orpheus has an affair with the shepherdess Pomponia, Eurydice with the beekeeper Aristeus. The Department of Destinies gave them an equal role as faithful lovers; we are born into a family by triggers and misunderstandings in which the gods interfere.
“Orpheus …” for the Krakow stage is directed by Włodzimierz Nurkowski, known for such productions as “Gianni Schicchi / Pajace”, “Turek in Italy” or “Ariadna na Naxos”. The director notes: I have twice invited you to the premiere of “Orpheus in Hell”, and together he thwarted our plans. I have that this time, when there is no hope for an obstacle and after the blocking period of the blocking period, these countries will succumb to a carefree and lighthearted mood. The authors give us champagne fun. Here is the world turned upside down. Arkadia changes in the Boulon Forest, Orpheus, the embodiment of artistry, becomes a pretentious musician, Eurydice, the personification of sweet innocence, an insatiable nymphet. Olympian Gods – better not to say … And in Hell there is a constant Halloween ball … In a word – joke, irony … and a deeper meaning. All this is to bathe us in cascades of pearly humor and dazzling music, and intoxicate us with vapors, as Gombrowicz used to say, of the “divine idiocy of operetta”.
In turn, Tomasz Tokarczyk, staging the play, points out: We are a bit used to the Viennese operetta, the works of Strauss or Kálmán, just like “Orpheus in Hell” we continue to the contemporary realities, but not so boldly, to this extent satirically. French operetta to a completely different world, also musically. The famous hellish gallop, cancan, entered the canon of past masterpieces. “Orpheus …” is a jewel of the genre, probably out of about a hundred operettas written by Offenbach.
Anna Sekuła, who collaborates with Włodzimierz Nurkowski, is responsible for the set and costumes, Violetta Suska for stage movement and choreography, Bogumił Palewicz for light direction, and Małgorzata Zwolińska for multimedia films. The main roles will be played by Jarosław Bielecki, Dominik Sutowicz (Orpheus), Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha, Marcelina Beucher (Eurydyka), Adam Sobierajski, Łukasz Gaj (Arysteusz-Pluto), as well as a team of artists: Przemysław Rezner, Grzegorz Szostak, Anna Lubańska, Janusz Ratajczak. Once again, the best stage will be performed by another singers, well-known also big from Krakow
incl. from “Così fan tutte” by WA Mozart: Zuzanna Caban and Adrian Domarecki.
Statements:
Bogusław Nowak, General Director of the Krakow Opera
“Orpheus of Hell” for the premiere of the Opera this season, but at the same time the first one, like the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which took place in the year21. unfortunately this meeting could not be realized. Then we set 2 more release dates, which also did not arrive. It seems that at the same time that things will come true, to finally attach and supplement, that is, goods for sale, as sections, that we can invite our goods on the terminal for identity.
Tomasz Tokarczyk, musical musician
I am very happy that after so many attempts we will be able to work on the work until the happy end. It’s not that simple, especially since the cast helped us a bit, but fortunately we managed to gather a group that was achievable. Offenbach’s “Orpheus in Hell” to wonderful music – witty, playful, at times poetic, and at times a bit vulgar, but also phenomenally conveying the content and libretto. In my opinion, Offenbach is still not enough on stage – I hope you will fill these gaps, especially since we have soloists for that, which I am very happy about.
Włodzimierz Nurkowski, director
I admit that it is a bit difficult for me to talk about this production. We started working on the playback two years ago, when, together with Joanna Wójtowicz, we read the choir score at my place. I remember a lot about the post office, but now I also feel as if I had met myself from years ago, and yet at the same time, the world around us has changed. It wasn’t a mountain, but I think I finally made it. “Orpheus in Hell” is the best quality material for soloists, for me, for all of us – a horse with a row to those who are able to say with full responsibility that they have penetrated the center and curls of this text in one hundred percent, which is wonderful and brazenly downright nonsense. Of course, at the time of its inception, it updates when you are very intensively updated; Today, the most readable aspect is probably its self-paradigmatic dimension, that is, a satire on the very genre of operetta. But there are also important points of reference to a certain system of values. Today we would now be a collision of two worldviews in an easy libetta; one of them, represented by the Public Opinion, for the party of the godhead “, guarding the value, in the second category quite militant, in quotation marks I take, LGBT. This is one area that is legible today. The second to the fall of authority; At present, our values are somewhat in decline when it comes to systems of manipulating mass transactions by others, among others. The third is, of course, the mighty force of Eros – the god of passion, all are subject, and which is also put in huge quotation marks. The funniest weeks, that only a character who is a star, deeply in love, is John Styx, a 200-year-old deceased, courting Eurydice, who just two weeks ago left the earthly valley. So much for the more serious threads in the libretto. Most of us, however, tried to make it simply a funny and witty performance. This is what I will want to do on my stage – a spectacle that will not be lucid, simply disinterested fun.
Violetta Suska, author of choreography and stage movement
Of course, there has to be a lot of dance in the operetta, and “Orpheus in Hell” won’t work. I have that we lend our hands in the hope of gaining all the humor and amused. Of course, there will be the indispensable cancan, danced by devils and devils, as well as many dance scenes with a pinch of salt, a bit later, when we share with ourselves, which is around us. We tried to be a spectacle that would become an operetta – one that was not exaggerated, philosophized, a flow-like spectacle; Admittedly with a slight hint of philosophical message, but funny and dancing.
Marcelina Beucher soloist (Eurydyka)
Eurydice this time is a character in a woman, passionate and spectacular performances. Unfortunately, she has a relationship with a man which means she has been interested for many years, which means users have mixed dialogues in this situation. In the area of reference, she is already interested, but not her husband. Against the background of my previous roles, which I create on various stages, she is an interesting character who also allows me to be fun – I rarely have fun for it. Ten performances are sung for a long time in a story about fun – thanks to the composer and librettist’s rapid approach to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and finally interprets Maestro Tokarczyk and Włodzimierz Nurkowski.
Jarosław Bielecki, soloist (Orpheus)
As my stage wife already mentioned, in Offenbach’s operetta, the relationship between Orpheus and Eurydice has long ended. Orpheus is a frustrated musician who no longer gives concerts, but only teaches; He adds his three pennies to his unfaithful wife, who pours out all her anger and buckets of washing on him. However, he is also not without fault, because he himself is looking for love affairs on the side. Everything is tongue-in-cheek for you, and there is no lack of humor in the inflectional vicissitudes.
Dominik Sutowicz, soloist (Orpheus)
For me, participation in “Orpheus in Hell” is a very interesting experience, because this is my first time dealing with operetta – now I can say that I tried it and I liked it very much. We have a great time together on the red stage and I hope this case will make you as happy as we want.
ORPHEUS IN HELL
Jacques Offenbach
Premiere: September 30, 2021
Next performances: 01, 02, 03/10/2021
Implementers:
Musical direction: Tomasz Tokarczyk
Directed by Włodzimierz Nurkowski
Set design and costumes: Anna Sekuła
Stage movement and choreography: Violetta Suska
Joint choir: Jacek Mentel, Janusz Wierzgacz, Joanna Wójtowicz
Project: Małgorzata Zwolińska
Lighting direction: Bogumił Palewicz
Director’s assistant: Anna Popiel
Musical collaboration: Adam Mokrus
Production manager: Mateusz Makselon, Dagmar Bilińska-Korban
Sufler: Dorota Sawka, Maria Mitkowska
Cast:
ORPHEUS | Jarosław Bielecki, Dominik Sutowicz
EURIDICE | Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha, Marcelina Beucher
ARISTEUS-PLUTO | Adam Sobierajski, Łukasz Gaj
JUPITER | Przemysław Rezner, Grzegorz Szostak
PUBLIC OPINION | Anna Lubańska, Elwira Janasik
JAN STYX | Janusz Ratajczak, Michał Kutnik, Krzysztof Kozarek
KUPIDON | Paula Maciołek, Zuzanna Caban
MERCURY | Adrian Domarecki, Łukasz Ratajczak
DIANA | Agnieszka Kuk, Joanna Wójcik
JUNON | Agnieszka Czolotka-Niezgódka, Karin Wiktor-Kałucka
VENUS | Monika Korybalska, Ewa Menaszek
MINERVA | Magdalena Barylak, Marta Abako, Karin Wiktor-Kałucka
MARS | Sebastian Marszałowicz, Jacek Ozimkowski
CHORUS, BALLET and ORCHESTRA OF THE KRAKOW OPERA
Conductor: Tomasz Tokarczyk