King Roger

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This article is about an opera. For the King of Sicily, see Roger II of Sicily.
King Roger
Król Roger
Opera by Karol Szymanowski
King Roger II of Sicily, from Liber ad honorem Augusti, 1196
LibrettistKarol Szymanowski
Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz
LanguagePolish
Premiere
19 June 1926 (1926-06-19)
Grand Theatre, Warsaw

King Roger (Polish: Król Roger, Op. 46) is an opera in three acts by Karol Szymanowski to a Polish libretto by the composer himself and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, the composer's cousin. The score was finished in 1924. The opera received its world premiere on 19 June 1926 at the Grand Theatre, Warsaw, with the cast including the composer's sister, the soprano Stanisława Korwin-Szymanowska, as Roxana.

The "Sicilian drama", as he called it,

Efebos dealt with mystical themes similar to those that inspired this work;[2] Szymanowski labelled it a "Misterium".[1]

Jim Samson has placed King Roger in a musico-psychological analysis of Szymanowski's compositional struggles.[3] Alistair Wightman has briefly discussed Szymanowski's stylised treatment of Arabic musical idioms in the score.[4] Stephen Downes has analysed in detail the themes of "duality" and "transformation" expressed in the music of the opera.[5]

Performance history

Since its 1926 premiere, stagings of King Roger have been relatively rare. Two productions followed closely, the first at

Národní divadlo in Prague. The first post-World War II presentation took place in Palermo in 1949 in the presence of its librettist, conducted by Mieczysław Mierzejewski [pl], set design by Renato Guttuso, Giovanni Inghilleri [it] sang Roger, Clara Petrella sang Roxana, Antonio Annaloro [it
] the Shepherd. After that some years passed before the opera was staged again.

In 1975, the

St. Louis Symphony in St. Louis, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. That same year it was presented at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, conducted by Stanisław Wisłocki
.

Since the late 1980s and into the present century, King Roger seems to have enjoyed something of a revival with about thirteen productions in many different locations. In 1988, the

Proms by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle in 1998, while the third and fourth performances were presented in Montreal and subsequently, on October 17, 1999, at Carnegie Hall for the New York Premiere with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
.

In the 21st century, King Roger was given by the Polish National Opera in 2000 and in the same year also in Amsterdam by the Netherlands Opera, conducted by Hartmut Haenchen. In 2002, Charles Dutoit conducted the Japanese premiere of the work in a concert version with the

Edinburgh Festival in 2008 under Valery Gergiev and directed by Mariusz Treliński.[8]

It was presented in Palermo in 2005 and also by the Wrocław Opera in 2007. A subsequent US performance was at the Bard SummerScape festival in 2008.[9][10]

Both the Gran Teatre del

Wuppertal Opera House in Germany.[13] Two performances took place in Boston in March 2015 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit. The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, introduced a new co-production with Opera Australia, conducted by Antonio Pappano, in May 2015. The first performance in Australia was shown by Opera Australia in 2017 in Sydney and Melbourne, conducted by Andrea Molino, with Saimir Pirgu as Shepherd.[14]

Roles

Role Voice type Premiere, 19 June 1926
(Conductor: Emil Młynarski)
Roger II, King of Sicily baritone Eugeniusz Mossakowski [pl]
Roxana, his wife soprano Stanisława Korwin-Szymanowska
Edrisi, an Arab scholar tenor Maurycy Janowski
Shepherd tenor Adam Dobosz
Archbishop bass Roman Wraga
Deaconess contralto Teodozja Skonieczna
Priests, monks, nuns, acolytes, courtiers, guards, eunuchs, Shepherd's disciples

Synopsis

Place: Sicily
Time: 12th century

The story concerns the enlightenment of the Christian King Roger II by a young shepherd who represents pagan ideals.

Act 1

Often known as the "Byzantine" act

The Shepherd is introduced to King Roger and his court during mass at the Palermo Cathedral. Despite calls by the Archbishop as well as the crowd for his punishment as a heretic, Roxana, Roger's wife, convinces the King not to kill him. She implores him to pass a fair judgment on the Shepherd. Roger orders the young man to appear at the palace that night, where he will explain himself and submit to the King's judgement.

Act 2

The "Oriental" act, representing India and the Middle East

As instructed, the Shepherd appears at the palace gates. Roxana sings a seductive song which is clearly a response to the visitor, causing Roger to grow increasingly agitated. As the Shepherd is led in, he describes his faith in detail and soon almost the entire court joins him in an ecstatic dance. Roger attempts to chain him, but the Shepherd easily breaks free, and leaves the palace with almost all of those assembled following him. At first the King and his Arab advisor, Edrisi are left alone, but soon it is decided that Roger will join the Shepherd.

Act 3

The "

Greco-Roman
" act

In an ancient Greek theater, King Roger and Edrisi rejoin Roxana, who informs her husband that only the Shepherd can free him of his fear and jealousy. A fire is lit, and the Shepherd's followers commence another dance, while the Shepherd is transformed into Dionysus. As the dance ends and the participants leave the stage, Roger is left transformed by the experience, and sings a joyous hymn at the arrival of the morning sun.

Recordings

Year Cast:
(King Roger,
Roxana,
Edrissi,
Shepherd) 		Conductor,
Opera house and orchestra 		Label
1965
& 1988 		Andrzej Hiolski,
Hanna Rumowska,
Kazimierz Pustelak,
Zdzisław Nikodem 		Mieczysław Mierzejewski,
Polish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus and Youth Choir : Grand Theatre – National Opera Warszawa 		AAC: Polskie Nagrania 1965,
Cat: 0250/1;
Olympia 1988,
Cat: OCD 303
1990 Andrzej Hiolski,
Barbara Zagórzanka,
Wiesław Ochman,
Henryk Grychnik 		Karol Stryja,
Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus and the Cracow Philharmonic Boys' Choir 		CD: Marco Polo,
Cat: 223339;
Naxos,
Cat: 8660062-63
1992 Florian Skulski,
Barbara Zagórzanka,
Stanisław Kowalski,
Zdzisław Nikodem 		Robert Satanowski,
Polish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus and Youth Choir : Grand Theatre – National Opera Warszawa 		CD: Koch-Schwann,
Cat: 314 014 K2
1998 Thomas Hampson,
Elżbieta Szmytka,
Ryszard Minkiewicz,
Philip Langridge 		Simon Rattle,
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, plus City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus 		CD: EMI
Cat: 56823 and Cat: 14576
2003 Wojtek Drabowicz,
Olga Pasichnyk,
Piotr Beczała,
Krzysztof Szmyt 		Jacek Kaspszyk,
Polish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus and All Polacca Youth Choir
(Live recording of a broadcast at the Teatr Wielki, Warsaw, January) 		CD: Accord
Cat: ACD 131–2
2007 Andrzej Dobber,
Aleksandra Buczek,
Rafal Majzner,
Pavlo Tolstoy 		Ewa Michnik,
Wroclaw Opera Orchestra and Choir and Angelus Chamber Choir 		DVD: Narodowy Instytut Audiowizualny
Cat: 5908259554143 (PAL version only)
2009 Mariusz Kwiecień,
Olga Pasichnyk,
Štefan Margita
Eric Cutler
Kazushi Ono,
Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris
 DVD: Bel Air Media[15]
2009 Scott Hendricks,
Olga Pasichnyk,
John Graham-Hall,
Willy Hartmann 		Mark Elder,
Vienna Symphony and the Polish Radio Choir, Kraków, plus the Children's Chorus of Musikhauptschule Bregenz 		DVD: C-Major
Cat: 702808 (NTTC)
2015 Mariusz Kwiecień,
Georgia Jarman,
Kim Begley,
Saimir Pirgu 		Antonio Pappano,
Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House 		DVD: Opus Arte
Cat: 8011613

References

  1. ^ a b King Roger, Op. 46 (1918–1924), karolszymanowski.pl
  2. ISBN 0-947854-10-X
  3. JSTOR 765927
    .
  4. JSTOR 765927
    .
  5. JSTOR 854015
    .
  6. ^ Will Crutchfield (26 January 1988). "Szymanowski's King Roger in California". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 3 – 3 March 1990 – BBC Genome". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  8. ^ George Loomis (2008-07-24). "An innovative, multinational staging of Szymanowski's King Roger". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  9. ^ "Bard SummerScape: A Chat with King Roger Director Lech Majewski". Playbill Arts. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  10. ^ Philip Kennicott (29 July 2008). "King Roger, A Confounding Object of Desire". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  11. ^ "Review: King Roger revealed at Santa Fe Opera" by James M. Keller, The Santa Fe New Mexican, 23 July 2012
  12. ^ "A Thorough Rogering: The Santa Fe Opera's King Roger stays focused" by John Stege, Santa Fe Reporter, 25 July 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012
  13. Der Neue Merker
    , June 2014 (in German)
  14. ^ King Roger, production details, Opera Australia
  15. IMDb Edit this at Wikidata

Further reading

External links
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