AGATA ZUBEL (*1978)
ORESTEJA | ORESTEIA (2011)
dramatopera na solistów, aktorów, chór, trzy perkusje i elektronikę |
dramopera for soloists, actors, choir, three percussion, and electronics

Libretto:
MAJA KLECZEWSKA (*1973)
według Ajschylosa w tłumaczeniu Macieja Słomczyńskiego |
after Aeschylus, in Maciej Słomczyński’s translation

[1]–[12] Akt I | Act I 43:15
[13]–[23] Akt II | Act II 33:04

Total time: 76:32

Klitajmestra, Orestes Danuta Stenka – aktorka | actress
Kassandra Anna Zawisza – sopran | soprano
Apollo Michał Sławecki – kontratenor | countertenor
Atena Tomasz Piluchowski – tenor | tenor

Tamara Kurkiewicz – perkusja | percussion
Leszek Lorent – perkusja | percussion
Krzysztof Niezgoda – perkusja | percussion

Chór Polskiego Radia | The Polish Radio Choir
Szymon Wyrzykowski – dyrygent | conductor


‘Concerns about the purity of the genre are, I believe, unnecessary,’ said Agata Zubel in an interview. And indeed, she is not concerned. Her dramopera Oresteia for soloists, actors, choir, percussion, and electronics boldly juggles with various aesthetics and types of sound. Herself an outstanding singer, as a composer Zubel attaches great importance to the human voice as the most unique of all instruments. Each voice exists, after all, in only one copy. Interestingly, in Oresteia Polish actress Danuta Stenka personates two opposites – she plays both the killer and the avenger. In this tale about the nature of evil and the vicissitudes of justice, her partners are Anna Zawisza (soprano), Michał Sławecki (countertenor), Tomasz Piluchowski (tenor), and The Polish Radio Choir, as well as percussionists: Krzysztof Niezgoda, Leszek Lorent, and Tamara Kurkiewicz. The spectacle is conducted by Szymon Wyrzykowski.
On the occasion of presenting Agata Zubel, as the first Pole in history, with the European Composer Award (the 2018 Europäischer Komponistenpreis, for Fireworks) she was praised by the jury for being ‘very skillfully able to unleash the “demonic” powers of the symphony orchestra.’ She has now proved equally capable of extracting topical meanings and emotions out of centuries-old myths.