Znaniecki’s staging draws inspiration from the legendary Fellini film, 8 1/2 and it was selected for showings in Trondheim by the Norwegian partner. The Italian cinematographic classic finds analogous costumes, relations between protagonists and set design in the Don Giovanni production. Bogusław Nowak, the director of the Kraków Opera called a very consequent piece in this regard.
Prior to the Norwegian showings, the piece had been performed on the Kraków stage twice, on the 22nd and 24th of February.
In the Norwegian production, Don Giovanni is performed by Havard Stensvold and the acclaimed soloist Kari Postma plays Donna Elvira. The Polish cast of the staging includes Agnieszka Cząstka, Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha, Remigiusz Łukomski, Przemysław Rezner, Adam Sobierajski and Krzysztof Szumański. The singers are accompanied by the Kraków Opera Choir and Ballet, and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra plays under the baton of Tomasz Tokarczyk - Kraków Opera’s music director.
Following the Norwegian premiere of Don Giovanni on the of March, three more performances are scheduled to take place on the 5th, 7th and 9th of March, 2013. The present showings open the door to further cooperation with Norway. Nowak reveals the Kraków Opera’s future plans:
Next year we are planning to conduct vocal, direction and stage design master classes in Kraków. The classes will be crowned with a Polish-Norwegian production of La Boheme. It will enjoy its premiere on the 24th of September in Kraków, and two weeks later it will be shown in Trondheim
There is also talk of taking two more of the Kraków Opera productions, Carmen and Eugene Onegin to the Norwegian stage, either in the autumn of 2013 or the spring of 2014.
The current visit in Norway is the result of a contract for cooperation signed by the authorities of Kraków and Trondheim in February 2012. The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1909, and it performs in one opera production annually. Since 2012 the ensemble has as its music director Krzysztof Urbański a young Polish conductor.
Paulina Schlosser, source: PAP, press release