Warsaw | Premiere of Krzesimir Dębski's opera "Job"

The premiere of the opera Job by Krzesimir Dębski, commissioned by the Polish Royal Opera, will take place on 16 October 2020 at 7:00 p.m. in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw.

"I wrote a new drama. Greek in form, Christian in spirit, universal in meaning […]. Drama on suffering: Job" – this is what twenty-year-old Karol Wojtyła wrote in a letter to his friend, Mieczysław Kotlarczyk. The young playwright understood this Old Testament story of unjustified suffering and steadfastness of faith from the Christological perspective and noticed its parallelism to the fate of Poland, plunged in the conflagration of war. As part of the centenary birthday celebration of Pope John Paul II, and in the eightieth anniversary of the creation of this extremely mature and symbolically rich text, the Polish Royal Opera invites you to a modern musical interpretation of Job.

Krzesimir Dębski’s opera is full of many bold juxtapositions of archaic language with modern orchestral means and an interesting sound of commenting chorus, resembling the one from an ancient Greek tragedy. It seems ironic that the premiere of the piece, primarily planned for May 2020, was cancelled due to the pandemic, which spread all over the world. Today, sanitary restrictions, imposed and binding, limit the possibility of scenic presentation, so the opera will take the shape of a concert. However, these difficulties may, all in all, turn the tables and strengthen the universal message of the work. After all, as the composer himself emphasizes: It is "an opera […] about the fate of a human being who has fallen into misfortunes and finds the way out of them".

The premiere will be performed by soloists, the Vocal Ensemble and Orchestra of the Polish Royal Opera conducted by Tadeusz Karolak. The concert will be broadcast on TVP Kultura.

Information on tickets at: www.operakrolewska.pl