Detailed information
Composer
Alek Nowak
Duration
80 min
Libretto
Robert Bolesto
Language
polish with polish and english subtitles
Premiere
Premiere at Baltic Opera Gdansk
Coproduction
Malta Festival, Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, Narodowe Centrum Kultury
Where?
Baltic Opera
Creatives
libretto
Robert Bolesto
music
music director
Yaroslav Shemet
Shemet is a conductor recognised for his orchestra-building leadership and insightful, architecturally expressive interpretations. He serves as the Artistic Director of the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice and the General Music Director of the Baltic State Opera in Gdańsk, making him the youngest director in the history of both institutions. From 2020 to 2022, he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg, and in the 2020/2021 season he held the position of Chief Conductor of the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic in Lviv. In the 2023/2024 season, he received nominations for several prestigious awards, including the International Opera Awards (Rising Star category), the Polityka Passports and the Fryderyk Award.
Shemet commands an exceptionally broad symphonic repertoire, encompassing the core Austro-German tradition as well as Central and Eastern European music and contemporary works.
Shemet commands an exceptionally broad symphonic repertoire, encompassing the core Austro-German tradition as well as Central and Eastern European music and contemporary works.
director
Agnieszka Smoczyńska
set design
Jagna Dobesz
costume
Katarzyna Lewińska
choreography
Tomasz Jan Wygoda
visual projections
Natan Berkowicz
lighting director and visual dramaturgy
Aleksandr Prowaliński
preparation of the Choir
Agnieszka Długołęcka-Kuraś
assistant lights
Maciej Kaczerski
assistant multimedia producer
Michał Lewandowski
assistant Music Director
Michael Poll
American conductor and classical guitarist whose work encompasses opera, symphonic, and contemporary music. In 2025, his album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Jack Liebeck (Barber's Violin Concerto), and works by David Conte and Byron Adams was released - it was featured on the Apple Music Top 100. Poll has conducted Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, and Carmen, among others, and is preparing Elizabeth Sikora's Dorian Gray with a libretto by Sir David Pountney. He assisted Franz Welser-Möst in Salzburg. As a guitarist, he has given concerts at the Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Panama.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, the Academy of Music in Poznan, and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (PhD), among others. He is a Fulbright and Marshall Scholar and is active in the educational initiative SoundingLab.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, the Academy of Music in Poznan, and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (PhD), among others. He is a Fulbright and Marshall Scholar and is active in the educational initiative SoundingLab.
curator of projects around Agnieszka Holland
Michał Merczyński
Description
The creators are inspired by the character from the film "Europa Europa," directed by Agnieszka Holland, and the true story of Salomon Perel, a Jew who hid in the ranks of the Hitler Youth during the Second World War.
In this original adaptation, created by outstanding artists from the worlds of film, theatre, and music—Robert Bolesto, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, and Alek Nowak—we are transported to the world of Greek mythology to look at the phenomenon of war from a distance and recognize its ever-relevant archetypes. The libretto tells the story of the immortal Medusas whom Hades seeks to destroy. One of them hides her identity and ends up in the hostile school for the Erinyes, while universal questions of memory, survival, and identity resonate in the background.
Attention! The performance features smoke and strobe lighting.
The co-production was subsidized by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage as part of the Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025.
The publisher of Alek Nowak's works is Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne.
In this original adaptation, created by outstanding artists from the worlds of film, theatre, and music—Robert Bolesto, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, and Alek Nowak—we are transported to the world of Greek mythology to look at the phenomenon of war from a distance and recognize its ever-relevant archetypes. The libretto tells the story of the immortal Medusas whom Hades seeks to destroy. One of them hides her identity and ends up in the hostile school for the Erinyes, while universal questions of memory, survival, and identity resonate in the background.
Attention! The performance features smoke and strobe lighting.
The co-production was subsidized by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage as part of the Cultural Programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025.
The publisher of Alek Nowak's works is Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne.
Cast
Jan Jakub Monowid
Orchestra, Choir, dancers of Baltic Opera
conductor
Yaroslav Shemet
Shemet is a conductor recognised for his orchestra-building leadership and insightful, architecturally expressive interpretations. He serves as the Artistic Director of the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice and the General Music Director of the Baltic State Opera in Gdańsk, making him the youngest director in the history of both institutions. From 2020 to 2022, he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg, and in the 2020/2021 season he held the position of Chief Conductor of the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic in Lviv. In the 2023/2024 season, he received nominations for several prestigious awards, including the International Opera Awards (Rising Star category), the Polityka Passports and the Fryderyk Award.
Shemet commands an exceptionally broad symphonic repertoire, encompassing the core Austro-German tradition as well as Central and Eastern European music and contemporary works.
Shemet commands an exceptionally broad symphonic repertoire, encompassing the core Austro-German tradition as well as Central and Eastern European music and contemporary works.
In repertoire
Photos
8 Photos
