Król Roger (Mariinsky Opera at the EIF)

[Novi]

On Monday night, I saw the Mariinsky performance of Szymanowski's Król Roger. This was my first experience of the opera, and what sumptuous music it is. While I usually like to be familiar with a piece before I see it in performance, in this particular instance, I'm glad I went in there blind (deaf? ) as I got the full impact of the music.

This was Mariusz Trelinski's production for Polish Opera, which shifted the opera from its original 12th century setting to an unidentified modern era. The sets were 'modernist' in a stark, concrete, minimalist way. Act One takes place in a church. Trelinski dispenses with the Byzantine elements for a cold, corporate feel. I'm going by this online libretto and am assuming that the detailed directions are Szymanowksi's, although I may be wrong here. Act Two shifts to Roger's palace, and again, a more contemporary feel with those 90 degree flattish rectangular sofas – I'm not sure how to describe them. Kind of like this . Act Three takes place in a hospital space; very spare and white, with Roger in a hospital bed.

I guess what you get is not so much a Classical paganism as such, at least not visually – for instance, there isn't much sense of the Shepherd's 'shepherd-ness' in a rustic pagan way, if that makes sense– but the classical filtered through a Nietzschean modernism. So the emphasis was on the philosophical elements of the opera (Szymanowski called it a 'philosophical opera').

This worked for the most part (for me), except for the Act Two setting though – for some reason, it reminded me of Al Pacino's Miami home in Scarface. I think it was the overall 80s, louche, lounge lizard feel of it, with the leather sofa, floor to ceiling glass, and by some clever use of lighting, the suggestion of a poolside patio outside, together with the slinkily dressed Roxana. Having said that, the lady who sat beside me thought it had a 20s flapper feel to it, so it's entirely my own fault for making spurious associations . The other part I was ambivalent about was in Act Three when the Shepherd/Dionysus takes you on a wild journey, which was evoked by a light show - the kind of 'time travel, speed of light' effect from sci-fi films, except it reminded me of a screen saver or is it real player that has those morphing geometic shapes?

I thought the cast of soloists was strong. Andrzej Dobber had quite a presence and captured Roger's turmoil well. Elzbieta Szmytka's (Roxana) vibrato was a bit broad for my tastes at first, but it must've grown on me, as by her aria Act Two, I was captivated (hang on, isn't the Shepherd supposed to do the seducing? ). Loved the merging of 'oriental' and jazzy elements too. And Act Three, when she returns to Roger, was also very moving.

It was a very sensual production: Roxana writhing ecstatically on the ground; the Shepherd drizzling wine over her; semi-naked dancers. Trelinski also drew out the homoerotic elements, not just between Roger and the Shepherd in a kind of Girardian 'imitative violence' way, but also between Roger and Edrisi. All very decadent and Dionysian .

But overall, it was Szymanowksi's score that made the greatest impression. Gergiev and his orchestra played wondrously, in turns rich, atmospheric, eerie, powerful. What struck me also was a fair bit of gorgeous violin playing, which brought to mind Szymanowski's great violin pieces – the concertos, Mythes etc. Despite my wee bit of cavilling, I really enjoyed it and it certainly makes me want to hear more of Szymanowski's work .

[Maciek]

Thanks, this is very interesting (I only stumbled into your review today!).

It seems that what you saw might be the same staging as the one released on DVD:


I must finally get it next month - they have it in a shop I pass on the way to work.

[bhodges]

Oh I missed this, too--and don't think I knew about this DVD, either, which looks great.  (PS, slightly off-topic: just heard Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 last Monday night with Boulez, Chicago and violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann--loved it--so I'm in the mood for this composer.)

--Bruce

[Novi]

Wow, that was almost a year ago! I saw 'Król Roger' in the subject line and got terribly excited until I realised it was my own review . The performance must've made quite an impression on me as I'm usually somewhat less, um, loquacious in my posts .

Thanks for posting about the DVD, Maciek - I'm quite tempted. I can't seem to find it on any of the usual sites (amazon, mdt etc) . Is it only available in Poland?

Bruce, my first Szymanowski experience was Zimmermann performing that concerto with Sir Simon and the BPO. Gorgeous! And certainly got me hooked.

[Maciek]

Thanks for posting about the DVD, Maciek - I'm quite tempted. I can't seem to find it on any of the usual sites (amazon, mdt etc) . Is it only available in Poland?

You can buy it at merlin.pl (click on the picture to get there). Not my top recommendation in Polish internet stores (www.gigant.pl usually has better prices) but certainly very reliable. They should also have the Dux DVD of Szymanowski's Hagith. Though that is something I already have and I'm not sure if I can recommend it. I found it an absolutely dreary experience: the production is one of the most inane I've ever seen and for the most part the music does not redeem it, unfortunately (Szymanowski himself disliked this opera). But to each his own, I guess - I'm sure there are people out there who enjoyed both the production (photos here, BTW) and the music.

And if you'd like to collect the complete vocal works of Szymanowski written for the stage, you might want to order his operetta The Husband Lottery here. Haven't seen or heard it. It has the original music by Szymanowski supplemented by a new libretto (the old one was lost - a rather rare case in the history of music, I think). Reviewers claimed this new libretto does not really work. But the music is supposed to be very pleasing.

[bhodges]

Wow, that was almost a year ago! I saw 'Król Roger' in the subject line and got terribly excited until I realised it was my own review .

   

Bruce, my first Szymanowski experience was Zimmermann performing that concerto with Sir Simon and the BPO. Gorgeous! And certainly got me hooked.

It is gorgeous, isn't it!  Very unusual structure, too--at least from what I could discern at one hearing.  Zimmermann clearly likes the piece a lot, and it's nice to have such a high-profile champion for a relatively unfamiliar work.

--Bruce