News
Review of the Opera "Madame Curie" in "Ruch Muzyczny"
2012-01-17
We would like to present fragments of the review in the last edition of last year’s “Ruch Muzyczny” of Elżbieta Sikora’s opera „Madame Curie, written by Anna Pęcherzewska–Hadrych. Contemporary operas appear rarely in Poland today, and so we should welcome the Gedanensis Opera project with even greater joy, under which the Baltic Opera will present new works every two years, which they will comission. Plans include operas: about Schopenhauer (born in Gdańsk) with music by Piotr Moss and a libretto by Antoni Libera, about Hans Memling (his Last Judgement is the greatest treasure belonging to the National Museum in Gdańsk) and a further musicalisation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The project is ambitious and - there is nothing to hide - expensive, and it remains to be hoped that the organizers will acquire adequate financial resources. For now, they have managed it - November 25, the first of the planned operas, "Madame Curie" by Elżbieta Sikora, was presented in Gdańsk.The presentation happily coincided with the time of the Polish presidency of the European Union (and its promotion was brought under the program I, Culture) and announced by the UNESCO International Year of Chemistry, which was under the patronage of Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Hence the idea to release a double premiere: before it went to the Baltic Opera, it was given on 15 November in the UNESCO Hall in Paris, although it is not very suitable for stage works with the orchestra. This order of presentation determined the staging concept, as it was prepared with a view to the challenging the conditions of this hall.
The mosaical system of scenes works in the staging – the whole has an expressive drama (despite the unconvincing beginning), with a strong, emotional culmination in the scene of the massive attack on the main character and a beautiful, muted finale. The well-constructed libretto, however, disappoints in the details, one could say it even arouses embarrassment, because it operates with language on the level of school readers or an honour academy, alternating with questions straight from Venezuelan soap operas (the pinnacle of kitsch is the scene of anti-prayer to the Virgin Mary). It only remains to rely on the singers’ poor diction, but unfortunately - at the premiere, it was excellent and the text simply could not be listened to.
The music - on the contrary: it is fascinating, and - as usual with Elżbieta Sikora - highly energetic. The sounds, like atoms scattered in an accelerator, colliding with each other, generating a cascade of new sounds flitting in all directions at once. Dissonances, the ghostly hue, the illuminated (spectral?) chords, whispers and screams, and subtly used electronics - so it looks at the micro level; from a distance one can see a well laid out, dynamic form. Sikora, the author of two operas, at any rate, has proven once again that she has a great feeling for the stage with, among other things, daring use of the choir, almost continually accompanying the heroine - as a commentator, and above all, as a participant in events, usually ruthless, like a horde in passion.
(…)
The theatrical narrative owes thanks for the good tempo of the direction by Marek Weiss, who made maximum use of the limited space. Many ideas are really great: the scene depicting the growing Irene and Eve, Maria’s daughters (behind their backs adult women appear, the girls leave, led away by an apparation – Lod’e Fuller), the entrance of the choir, like a ghostly zombie, the view of Paul and Mary motionless, bent over the table in the press attack scene, or the excellent sequence with the newspapers, which become a tool for lynching. There are also less persuasive passages: Maria fumbling on stage at the beginning of the show, or intrusive video projections of the atomic bomb and flashes from the First World War; although despite these, it must be emphasized that overall it leaves a very good impression.
Huge thanks for this are due to Anna Mikołajczyk in the title role, who created something – and I say this without any hesitation - outstanding. Endowed with a magnificent, powerful soprano voice (known - ironically – particularly by lovers of early music) with flawless intonation, she coped with the breakneck, highly dissonance part, simply phenomenally, singing with great expression; she was also excellent from the acting point of view. The other soloists also came out very well, even better than usual: because the orchestra sat in the back of the stage; the orchestral pit was built around them, the action taking place on the widened proscenium, and as a result (it is difficult to say whether this was intended) the singers’ voices were well heard - a solution to take into account in the future, because the voices in the Baltic Opera, unfortunately, usually disappear.
Following the premiere of Madame Curie, we look forward with optimism to the opera about the great pessimist, Schopenhauer, wishing the Baltic Opera management perseverence in raising funds. Sikora's work is certainly worth getting to know, though - if it was a possibility - I would suggest a Chinese (or Finnish) language version. Without translation.
Most popular:
It’ s like a game. The memory game, thanks to which you can look at a very ordinary family from an extraordinary perspective. ALBUM RODZINNY [Family album] – an opera by Jerzy Kornowicz with a libretto by Michał Rusinek – is another premiere of the ANAKLASIS label this year. This time, the record brand is expanding its audience to include the youngest listeners. The album will be released on 21st June.
Time passes constantly, changing the world and its soundscape around us. The title IL TEMPO PASSA may be both a reflection on the impermanence of life, world and things and a piece of advice to enjoy the moment. The latest album by ANAKLASIS presents Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa’s cameral and symphonic works from recent years. Premiere on 28 May 2024, on the composer’s 75th birthday.
It is a musical-literary tale about a quest for identity, truth, and for what makes us human. The new stage work by Aleksander Nowak – which is, at the same time, Radek Rak’s operatic debut – explores the sources of good and evil, fusing reality with mythology and steering towards ‘the left-hand side of the world’. The authors spin a tale about the dual human nature. THE TALE OF THE HEART. FAVOLA IN MUSICA – the album that presents their joint project – will go on sale on 6th October.
Spectacularly successful as Ludomir Różycki’s music was in his lifetime, it is seldom programmed nowadays. All the same, such remarkable art could hardly fall into utter oblivion. It has attracted and fascinated excellent jazz pianist Kuba Stankiewicz, who has translated it into the language of jazz. The effects have been recorded and released on ANAKLASIS label’s most recent album, INSPIRED BY LUDOMIR RÓŻYCKI, which goes on sale as of 28th August.
PWM Edition is entering the execution phase of the revitalisation of its Warsaw department. With the commencement of the renovation and the implementation of the assumptions of the architectural design, the Hire Department and the editorial office of “Ruch Muzyczny” are moving to a temporary headquarters at 19 Wiejska Street, Warsaw.
This is by no means a piece about the centuries-long Polish-German conflict. It is, instead, a tale of impossible love, of tragic conflict between personal happiness and the common good.
PWM Edition resumes cooperation with the Italian publishing house Ricordi, as well as with its international partners forming Universal Music Publishing Classics & Screen. This means that rentals of orchestral materials from the catalogues of all publishing houses belonging to Classics & Screen is carried out in Poland by Dział Zbiorów Nutowych (Sheet Music Department) of PWM.
The most fascinating phenomena in contemporary music; a wide range of genres; outstanding works, excellent composers and performers – are the trademarks of the record label ANAKLASIS, launched by PWM Edition. ANAKLASIS is now celebrating its third birthday. It continues to grow at a dizzying pace and maintains the high artistic standards of its releases.
When asked to attempt a definition of her music, she called it lyrical expressionism. The choice of this term says much about the emotional intensity of Elżbieta Sikora’s music, which may reflect the experience of her two home countries, Poland and France, but is also a consequence of her artistic maturation in an age when two powerful trends – the avant-garde and neo-Classicism – were vying for the palm. Such a label may also result from the artist’s focus on the listener as her target, whom she invariably attempts to surprise, shock, or bewilder.