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Organization

Singer

Baritone

Mariusz Kwiecien

King Roger

Tenor

Saimir Pirgu

Shepherd

Soprano

Georgia Jarman

Roxana

Kim Begley

Edrisi

Bass

Alan Ewing

Archbishop

Contralto

Agnes Zwierko

Deaconess

Conductor

Antonio Pappano

Stage director

Kasper Holten

Royal Opera House

Król Roger -  (King Roger)

London

United Kingdom

Approved

Kasper Holten presents a new production of Szymanowski's sumptuously scored opera King Roger, a meditation on identity and desire. Find out more at http://ww...

Król Roger trailer (The Royal Opera)

Director Kasper Holten and set designer Steffen Aarfing discuss the set design in Król Roger. http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/kro...
 

Kasper Holten's new production had its world premiere on 1 May 2015, conducted by Royal Opera Music Director Antonio Pappano, starring Mariusz Kwiecień (King Roger), Saimir Pirgu (The Shepherd) and Georgia Jarman (Roxana).

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Polish composer Karol Szymanowski began to gather ideas for Król Roger (King Roger), his second and final opera, in 1918. He was in part inspired by Euripides' The Bacchae, in which King Pentheus attempts to suppress the hedonistic worship of Bacchus but ultimately succumbs to his temptation and is destroyed in a bloody frenzy. Szymanowski's cousin, the poet Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, provided the original libretto; but in Szymanowski's arduous six-year gestation of the piece he altered the third act. His King Roger instead becomes a Nietzschean hero, who resists his desire and emerges 'strong enough for freedom'. But the focus of the opera is Roger's agonizing indecision – and the glorious music of the Act II Bacchic dance leaves a profound impression of the power of sensual temptation.

Szymanowski's music for the opera is opulently scored. The three short acts – commonly called the Byzantine, the Oriental and the Hellenic – brilliantly incorporate distinct musical styles. There are passages of exquisite lyricism, such as Roxana's soaring Act II aria, alongside thrilling writing for the chorus. 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 what is the innate duality of human nature.

Kasper Holten and Steffen Aarfing discuss the set for Król Roger (The Royal Opera)

King Roger by Szymanowski, From (2015/2015), Directed by Kasper Holten,, Conductor Antonio Pappano, Royal Opera House, London, United Kingdom

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