Król Roger (King Roger) by Karol Szymanowski (DVD PAL)
Price: $28.99
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This DVD is a record of first-night performances of "King Roger", an opera by Karol Szymanowski to the libretto by Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz, staged at the Wroclaw Opera by Ewa Michnik (musical management), of Mariusz Trelinski (direction) and of Boris Kudlička (set design).
Król Roger (King Roger) DVD Karol Szymanowski
The Wroclaw Opera Orchestra and Choir Angelus Chamber Choir Mimes and extras
Number of disks: 1 Condition: Brand New, Sealed, Mint Format: 4:3 Audio: DD 2.0 Language version: Polish Subtitles: English Region: 0 (PAL). European or multi-system DVD player is recommended to see this DVD Time: 111'45'' Libretto: Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz, Karol Szymanowski Music director: Ewa Michnik Stage director: Mariusz Trelinski Set designer: Boris Kudlicka Costume designer: Wojciech Dziedzic Film director: Katarzyna Adamik Sound director: Andrzej Lipinski
Cast Roger: Andrzej Dobber Roksana: Aleksandra Buczek Edrisi: Rafal Majzner Shepperd: Pavlo Tolstoy Archiereios: Radoslaw Żukowski Diakonissa: Barbara Baginska
DVD Bonus material "How King Roger Came to Be" (documentary film)
About:
This DVD is a record of first-night performances of "King Roger", an opera by Karol Szymanowski to the libretto by Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz, staged at the Wroclaw Opera by Ewa Michnik (musical management), of Mariusz Trelinski (direction) and of Boris Kudlička (set design). "King Roger" is undeniably one of most important operatic works of the first half of the 20th century. It is a fascinating philosophical treatise, polyphonic mystery play about transformation, a contemporary "Bacchae". In 2000, Trelinski and Kudlička staged the opera for the first time in Warsaw, creating a symbolic drama essay on thought structure, religious conflict, and battles of gods. The Wroclaw performance is rooted in the here and now, but the intoxicating music and magical imagery carry the viewer away from the earth; onto the other side. At the premiere in 1926, "King Roger" appeared to Szymanowski as "somewhat alien" (Iwaszkiewicz recalled years later). Only after the premiere in Prague, six years later, the composer became deeply inspired. He wrote, "It cannot be compared to any of my other music, alas, not even to ‘Harnasie'. I cannot shake off the impression, and the sadness, that this is the past now and I will probably never be able to write anything like that again". Interesting what he would say if saw the fascinating performance at the Wroclaw Opera...