Jan Peszek together with Cezary Tomaszewski directs a modernised production of "The Marriage of Figaro" at the National Museum in Kraków, featuring performances by the Capella Cracoviensis
The idea to hold an opera at Kraków's
National Museum is a rather unusual one, but the performance promises to be just as remarkable, with Jan Peszek as the Director of an extraordinary spectacle that brings Mozart's classic opera to life. All of this, no less, on the eve of the New Year.
The idea of spending New Year's Eve to the sound of one of the most famous operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is not new. This is a continuation of last year's project, which was organized on this special day by the Capella Cracoviensis. This New Year's Eve takes place in the majestic interiors of the National Museum in Kraków. According to the show's director, Jan Peszek, the piece presents a new angle on the opera, bringing it thoroughly into the present. The opera singers have taken part in a workshop aimed at ridding them of their traditional "performing habits".
According to Tomasz Adamus, musical director and organizing director of the Capella Cracoviensis, there is a great deal of music in the show and the live performance serves as "spiritual nourishment".
Jan Peszek, together with Cezary Tomaszewski has taken on the direction the event. He has already announced that everything will be "done in an appropriate and honest style as music is most important, most sacred".
Jan Tomasz Adamus added that:
Holding the opera in a different setting than an opera house may be clearly refreshing for some music lovers. The space in the National Museum is quite interesting and unusual. The direction alone brings a great deal of freshness to it. On the other hand, it will be based on the classic, because the strength and discipline of this music is imposed by the libretto, which we do not intend to change, nor get rid of.
Cezary Tomaszewski has already put together a few performances for the Capella Cracoviensis, including a sensational project entitled Madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi, presented in the cult milk bar Pod Temidą in Kraków. In The Marriage of Figaro, Tomaszewski is responsible for stage movement, which is to play one of the most important roles in the spectacle.
Capella Cracoviensis singers taking part in the show are: Bogdan Makal (Il Conte), Monika Mych (La Contessa), Marzena Lubaszka (Susanna), Andrzej Witlewski (Figaro), Aleksandra Buczek (Cherubino), Aleksandra Lewandowska (Marcellina), Jacek Ozimkowski (Bartolo), Krystian Krzeszowiak (Don Basilio), Marcin Kotarba (Don Curzio) and Radosław Rzepicki (Antonio). The Capella Cracoviensis orchestra will play historical instruments with Alberto Stevanin as concert master, and Marek Toporowski on the piano.
The premiere of the opera The Marriage of Figaro, by W.A. Mozart, directed by Jan Peszek and Cezary Tomaszewski, is held on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2010 in the main building of the National Museum in Kraków, at 20:00. Repeat performances are scheduled for January 1 & 2, 2011. For more information, see:
www.capellacracoviensis.plSource: www.krakow.pl