News
Zygmunt Krauze's "Pułapka" Returns to the Boards of the Wrocław Opera
2013-11-21
The nearest performance of Zygmunt Krauze's opera, acclaimed by critics and audiences, „Pułapka” ("The Trap") will be held on February 28 at the Wrocław Opera. The premiere of the opera, which was written on a libretto based on the play by Tadeusz Różewicz, „Pułapka”, took place in December 2011. The work, directed by Ewelina Piotrowiak was led by Tomasz Szreder and starred Mariusz Godlewski (baritone). After the premiere the reviewers and critics wrote:„There is no more depressing – and at the same time beautiful – spectacle on any opera stage in Poland.” [Adam Domagała, Gazeta Wyborcza Wrocław, 2011-12-20]
„Zygmunt Krauze's music does not blur the meaning of the words. Short orchestral introductions before each image and a few songs from the choir is really all that has been added. The rest is based on dialogues supplemented by expressive monologues. The composer repeats the motifs assigned to individuals, building the score like a set of blocks, but then Pułapka consists of obsessively returning topics.” [Jacek Marczyński, Rzeczpospolita, 2011-12-19]
„This Różewicz-Krauze Pułapka is an extraordinary performance. A chamber opera, in which there are no arias, everything is based on dialogue, and the text of the libretto itself is an abridged form of the text from the play (bravo for the composer and Grzegorz Jarzyna, as the abbreviations draw out that which is most important and, more importantly, the music further underlines it).” [Katarzyna Kaczorowska, Gazeta Wrocławska, 2011-12-19]
„Not only music lovers, but people hungry for good, classical theatre, which does not distort the letter of the text and does not seek contexts where they do not exist should go and see Pułapka.” [Magdalena Talik, Kreatywny Wrocław, 2011-12-19]
„ Zygmunt Krauze's music successfully underlines the grotesque incompatibility of the character and the situation in which he is caught by time and illusion. Using the Webernian theme, the composer worked like an animator of the rhythm of the existence of the characters trapped in events, social stereotypes, apparent male-female-family relationships, individual longings-needs. The people of this drama behave like participants in a ball for dummies, which is perfectly captured by the operatic convention. Unnatural song fits perfectly to this 'epic of being out of place', as has been written about Różewicz's Pułapka.” [Grzegorz Chojnowski, Polskie Radio Wrocław, 2011-12-19]
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.