Król Roger
| Opera dates | |
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| Title: | King Roger |
| Original title: | Król Roger |
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King Roger II |
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| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | Polish |
| Music: | Karol Szymanowski |
| Libretto : | Karol Szymanowski and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz |
| Premiere: | June 19, 1926 |
| Place of premiere: | Teatr Wielki , Warsaw |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Sicily around 1150 |
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Król Roger or Pasterz (German: König Roger or Der Hirte , op. 46) is a Polish opera in three acts by Karol Szymanowski (music) with a libretto by Karol Szymanowski and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz . The world premiere took place on June 19, 1926 at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. There are ballets in the second and third acts.
action
The opera is about the enlightenment of the Christian King Roger II by a young shepherd who stands for pagan ideals.
first act
The interior of a Byzantine church
During mass, the clergy beg King Roger to protect Christian customs from the seditious speeches of a strange shepherd. The shepherd is brought forward. Despite the archbishop's demand for punishment, Roger's wife Roksana convinces the king not to have him killed. Roger orders the young man to appear at the palace that evening, where he should explain himself further and wait for the royal verdict.
Second act
Inner courtyard of the Royal Palace
The shepherd appears at the palace gates. Roksana sings a seductive song that is clearly a response to the visitor, and Roger becomes increasingly excited. When the Shepherd is introduced, he describes his faith in detail, and soon almost the entire judgment follows him in an ecstatic dance. Roger tries to tie him up, but the shepherd breaks it easily and leaves the palace. Almost everyone follows him. Only the king and his Arab advisers remain, but soon Roger also decides to follow the shepherd.
Third act
Ruin of an ancient theater
In an old Greek theater, Roger meets Roksana, who tells her husband that only the shepherd can free him from his fears and jealousy. A fire causes him and the priest's followers to dance again while the shepherd is transformed into Dionysus. Roger greets the morning with a happy hymn.
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : three flutes (3rd also piccolo ), three oboes (3rd also English horn ), three clarinets (3rd also small clarinet in Eb), bass clarinet , three bassoons (3rd also contrabassoon)
- Brass : four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba
- Timpani , percussion : bass drum , cymbals , snare drum , tambourine , tam-tam , glockenspiel , xylophone
- Celesta
- two harps
- piano
- organ
- Strings
- Stage music behind the scene: four trumpets, tam-tam
Work history
The work was first played under Emil Młynarski on June 19, 1926 in Warsaw. Among the performers was the composer's sister, the soprano Stanisława Korwin-Szymanowska , who interpreted the role of Roksana. The other performers were Eugeniusz Mossakowski (Roger II), Maurycy Janowski (Edrisi), Adam Dobosz (shepherd), Roman Wraga (archbishop) and Teodozja Skonieczna (deaconess). The second production during the composer's lifetime took place in Duisburg in 1928, the third in Prague in 1932. After this performance Szymanowski wrote to Zofia Kochańska:
“It cannot be compared with anything else in my music - unfortunately neither with Harnasie nor with the two new concerts, that is to say with nothing that I wrote after King Roger. That's very sad!! The sound of the orchestra and the choirs alone is in places completely astonishing and its tension downright shocking. I cannot free myself from this impression - but also from the sadness - that this is already the past and that I am certainly not able to write anything of the kind anymore. "
Web links
- King Roger, Op. 46 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Action by Król Roger at Opera-Guide target page due to URL change currently not available
- Complete libretto in Polish from 'Ogólnopolski Klub Miłośników Opery: Trubadur'
- King Roger Op. 46 - Karol Szymanowski. Work information on culture.pl (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Karol Bula: Król Roger. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , pp. 219-221.
- ↑ June 19, 1926: "Król Roger". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ Danuta Gwizdalanka: The seducer. Karol Szymanowski and his music. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2017, ISBN 978-3-447-10888-1 , pp. 111-112.