“King Roger” by Karol Szymanowski – stage version for the first time in Lithuania on April 5, 2025
“King Roger” is considered a masterpiece of the 20th century opera. Directors worldwide are drawn both by its musical values and open interpretation possibilities. It tells the story of the disintegration of the world caused by the arrival of an alien. The seemingly harmless Shepherd seduces crowds, with the titular Roger’s wife Roksana succumbing to his charm. Each of the three acts follows the same pattern: waiting, arrival, departure.
Since its premiere in Warsaw in 1926, Karol Szymanowski’s work has been the most frequently performed Polish opera across the world. It was shown at the festival in Bregenz (directed by David Pountney), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (directed by Kasper Holten), and at the Bern opera house in Switzerland (directed by Ludger Engels), Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (directed by Michał Znaniecki), at the English National Opera (directed by Anthony Bescha), as well as other opera theaters across Europe (Palermo, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Paris, Nuremberg, Prague, Bremen) and America (New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Buffalo). “King Roger is like a refined perfume” – said Sir Simon Rattle, one of the most famous conductors of our times, at the festival in Salzburg, where he conducted the opera in 1998,
Thus far, “King Roger” has been shown twice in Lithuania in 2023 (at the opening of the season at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic and at the Festival in Požaisc). Both shows were concert performances.
On April 5, 2025, the stage version of the opera will be shown for the first time at the Klaipėda State Music Theatre. The production of the Baltic Opera, directed by Romuald Wicza-Pokojski, premiered on October 1, 2022 in Gdańsk. The event has been made possible thanks to collaboration of the two theaters as part of the Inspiring Culture program promoting the most interesting phenomena of Polish culture abroad.
Tickets are on sale now – they are available at the theatre box office and its website.