In the upcoming season, we can expect, among others, new versions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Verdi’s Traviata and Moniuszko’s Halka and The Phantoms. The season starts on 20th September.
Last season of premieres and projects
In the 2017-2018 season, the Opera staged, among others, Fidelia by Beethoven, The Cracovians and the Highlanders by Stefani and Bogusławski, Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck, or Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet; there was a concert performance of Verdi’s opera Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio; bass René Pape – a star of the Metropolitan Opera – also performed on the Wroclaw stage; the Open Door choreographic workshops were held.
Apart from that, the Accademia dell’ Opera educational cycle and the Opera Labyrinth project (a popular tour of the opera premises that are usually not accessible to the audience) were continued, and the Foundation for the Wroclaw Opera was opened (its first result is a ballet studio run by the opera dancers). The garage clearance sale of costumes from rich storage facilities of the opera aroused much interest and will be held a few more times in the future.
New Halka, new Don Giovanni
In the 2018-2019 season, the most important events will be the premieres that we are eagerly waiting for, particularly Mozart’s Don Giovanni – fans of this opera have waited a few years for its return to the repertoire since its staging by Mariusz Treliński was taken off. This time the February premiere will be directed by the Brazilian director André Heller-Lopes. On the occasion of the Moniuszko Year, another staging of Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka is planned. Its previous production by Laco Adamik aroused much controversy, but modernisation was necessary. In December and at the end of the Polish Year, there will be an opportunity to see how Polish classic operas are interpreted today. In March 2019, Moniuszko’s cantata The Phantoms (recently made famous by performances and recording under the baton of Andrzej Kosendiak) will be directed by Jarosław Fret.
Ballet and family show
On 27th April, we can expect a ballet premiere – a performance based on two works by Igor Stravinsky: The Card Game and The Rite of Spring. Children and parents are invited to attend the June premiere of Yemaya – a new musical being composed by Zygmunt Krauze.
From big stage to small stage
The production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco by Krystian Lada, which we saw in the open air in May, will be shown at the opera already in September. This is also the case with Charles Gounod’s Faustus directed by Beata Redo-Dobber – a superproduction shown at the Centennial Hall in the 2016-2017 season (its stage premiere is scheduled for April 2019).
Supershow at Plac Wolności again?
It is still unknown if the premiere of a new supershow – Verdi’s La Traviata – will take place in the same location as Nabucco. The date is known: 14th-15th June 2019. ‘Many people said that it is a beautiful space for a summer stage with an auditorium, but, for the time being, I cannot confirm whether the premiere will take place at the back of the Wroclaw Opera building, too,’ says Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski, the director of the Wroclaw Opera. The theatre is holding negotiations with the tenant of the car park at which the expansion of the opera was to begin. ‘There is a need to expand the cubic volume with storage facilities beside the stage,’ adds the director. For the time being, decorations are brought from the storage facility at ul. Bystrzycka; in the future, they may be available from the storage facility that should be built in place of the current car park.
Opera stage under modernisation
During the summer, the 2-year project covering the provision of additional equipment and the modernisation of theWroclawstage will come to an end. ‘We will gain a very important thing: a new functional revolving stage,’ stresses Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski. ‘We also have many investment purchases, such as multimedia. In addition, we want to buy brass and wooden instruments and percussion as well as instruments for the quintet to enrich its sound,’ says Nałęcz-Niesiołowski.
