Paweł Mykietyn, photo: Albert Zawada
Two discs of Mykietyn's theatre music explore the composer's play scores, and complement impressive releases of his concert music.
Distinguished accomplishments came in 2012 for the composer's concert, film and theatre work—three aspects of Paweł Mykietyn's output that can seem as distinct as planets. The two-act music drama King Lear was premiered by Ensemble Moderne in September in Kraków, he received the Prix France Musique Sacem for his film score to Essential Killing by Jerzy Skolimowski (other nominated scores included The Artist and Terence Malick's Tree of Life), and two discs of his theatre music were released.
African Tales by Shakespeare come from the award-winning production by the Nowy Teatr in Warsaw from 2011, and the selections on Muzyka Teatr range among the director Krzysztof Warlikowski's other productions, from Hamlet with TR Warszawa to Nowy Teatr's Tramwaj / A Streetcar in 2010. Neither disc lists track titles—on Muzyka Teatr, just the play titles are given. This serves as a clue to the subtle, varied persistence across musical styles. In this area of his work, Mykietyn creates in order to galvanize the theatre space: to open and suspend the audience's attention, not command it. These tracks find fascinating means of remaining effective and discreet. And each disc suggests, in its particular way, how all the world's a stage.
As African Tales opens, tones hover and warble over subudued synthesizers, like the call of a theremin or a beckoning magic wand. On a later track, the boys choir repeats a solemen Agnus Dei – it's a potent moment from Warlikowski's elaborate theatre piece, and it accompanys unholy stage action. Those vocal patterns are joined by chunks of low-range electronics, sonically intrusive, timed to unpredictable rhythms (this use of unequal tempos also startles expectations in Mykietyn's Symphony No. 2). The following track introduces a tender, aimless melody—a rare example of ominous feelings giving way to the sublime, a change that is quiet, extremely theatrical and reminiscent of electronic operas by Robert Ashley. With about an hour selected from the huge theatre production, African Tales is suitable for contemplation, and for fiery discussions over the kitchen table.
Muszyka Teatr plays more like a song collection. Two tracks from Hamlet are sung by actors from the play, with Magdalena Cielecka imploring and harsh, and a brief, falsetto ditty by Jacek Poniedziałek. Musicians include Mykietyn on keyboards and synthesizer, then as bass guitarist on a gripping, echo-laden duet with guitarist Piotr Domiński from Madame de Sade. Atmospheric pieces from the plays Krum and Angels in America develop from melodic clusters that alter and refract, and a piece from The Dybbuk haunts with its simplicity, with Mykietyn on piano accompanied by the Warsaw String Quartet.
The diversity of styles on Muzyka Teatr, from a lounge-like groove to the monotonous chant by Cielecka, shows the composer's versatility, while African Tales reveals musical mechanisms from a specific production. Conceived as accompaniment to that most real of the arts, theatre music provides an air distinct from soundtracks or concert music (another example of this special genre is Paweł Szymanski's award-winning disc, Zarathustra, from director Krystian Lupa's 2004 production). The discs join Mykietyn's adventurous St. Mark Passion (2011) and the critically acclaimed chamber-music collection, Speechless Song (2008), both released by the National Audiovisual Institute.
His approaches in theatre and concert music are distinct, yet there is cross-pollination. The director of Poland's National Institute of Music and Dance, Andrzej Kosowski, spoke in a conversation about the influence on Mykietyn's large-scale concert works of his work in the theatre, where he's spent some 15 years honing his sense of dramatic nuance and impact. Mykietyn had another accomplishment in 2012, as musical director of Nowy Teatr. He curated the Mecz Towarzyski / A Friendly Match festival of sound installations, engaging audiences and passersby on the Królikarnia Palace grounds in Warsaw. His taste for inviting musical intrigue resounds on the recent theatre discs, as well.