Philippe Jaroussky conducts Mozart’s opera during the Opera Rara 2025 Festival in Kraków
The program of the February edition of the Opera Rara Kraków 2025 – the opera festival of rare and forgotten scores – features 12 events, including six performances, four concert performances of operas and two recitals by legendary artists.
The festival begins on February 2 with the recital by the British tenor Ian Bostridge at the Krakow Philharmonic. He will be joined by one of the greatest pianists of our time, Piotr Anderszewski. They will perform the song cycle “Dichterliebe” by Robert Schumann, alongside Béla Bartók’s “Bagatelles” for piano.
“Mithridates, King of Pontus” (Mitridate) is the first great opera that Mozart composed when he was only 14 years old. The three-act work premiered in 1770 and has been rarely performed in Poland. On February 8, Capella Cracoviensis and soloists at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre will be led by the French conductor Philippe Jaroussky, also knows to the Polish audience as a singer. Tenor Zachary Wilder will play the title role, and Rebecca Bottone will sing the main female character – Aspasia.
The program also includes “Alceste”, a baroque lyrical tragedy. On February 11, it will be performed by a number of recognized artists in this repertoire: the Les Épopées group led by Stéphane Fuget and the stars of baroque opera: Claire Lefilliâtre and Cyril Auvity.
“Dardanus,” a fabulous opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, one of the greatest masterpieces of the French Baroque, will be performed at the Krakow Philharmonic twice (on stage February 12 and 13), and “Fairy Queen”, a semi-opera by Henry Purcell based on William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, directed by Cezary Tomaszewski will be shown three times (February 14, 15 and 16).
Another score in the festival repertoire “Elegy for Brahms” (on stage February 22, 23 and 24), directed by Krystian Lada. The Łaźnia Nowa Theater will feature compositions for choir and orchestra by Johannes Brahms (“Alt-Rhapsodie”, “Schicksalslied”, “Gesang der Parzen”, “Nänie”). The soloist will be mezzo-soprano Justyna Rapacz, and the choir and orchestra of Capella Cracoviensis will be conducted by Jan Tomasz Adamus.
The Opera Rara Kraków 2025 will be rounded off by German baritone Matthias Goerne, known for his masterful interpretations of songs, who will sing at the Słowacki Theater. He will be accompanied by pianist Bernadette Bartos. Works by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms will be performed on February 24.
The first edition of the Opera Rara Festival took place in 2009. Initially, the festival presented concert versions of forgotten Baroque operas. In 2017, it changed its formula, showing stagings of operas from various eras, including world premieres and recitals, under the direction of Jan Tomasz Adamus (director of Capella Cracoviensis).
Pierwsza edycja Festiwalu Opera Rara odbyła się 2009 roku. Początkowo festiwal prezentował wersje koncertowe zapomnianych oper barokowych. W 2017 roku zmienił formułę i pod dyrekcją Jana Tomasza Adamusa (dyrektora Capelli Cracoviensis) proponuje inscenizacje oper z różnych epok, w tym prapremiery oraz recitale.