Polish concert premiere of Joseph Beer’s operetta Online concert at playkrakow.com
Following the Austrian and German premieres, the time has come for the first concert performance in Poland of an operetta written in 1937 by the remarkably talented Polish composer of Jewish origin – Joseph Beer. Last year’s production in Linz was awarded the Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis. Polish Wedding (Polskie wesele) will arrive at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre on November 29!
Polish Wedding is an operetta intriguing not only for its plot – it is complemented by brilliantly sounding, lively krakowiaks and mazurkas, melancholic kujawiaks, and dignified polonaises.
It is the story of Bolesław, a young insurgent hiding in Austria, who, driven by longing for his beloved Jadzia, decides to return to the country illegally. He arrives just as his wealthy uncle – Count Staszek Zagórski – obtains permission to marry Jadzia from her impoverished father, Baron Mietek Ogiński. Matters become complicated, not only because Baron Mietek hopes for his debts to be cancelled after the marriage, but also because a Russian patrol under the command of Korozov arrives at the manor searching for Polish subversives. Fortunately, Zuzia, the manager of the Ogiński estate, is quick-witted and tells Jadzia to agree to the marriage with Staszek, who in exchange would bribe Korozov and allow Bolesław to avoid exile. What will happen next? Will Jadzia and Bolesław be together? Will Bolesław manage to avoid deportation? We will find the answers during the concert, which will take place on November 29 at 6:00 PM at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre.
The Polish concert premiere – with a libretto translated by Dorota Krzywicka-Kaindel – will feature soloists (Edyta Piasecka, Anna Bernacka, Wojciech Gierlach, Jacek Ozimkowski, Pavlo Tolstoy, Tomasz Rak), the Polish Radio Choir, and the Beethoven Academy Orchestra conducted by Łukasz Borowicz. The lighting designer is Ada Bystrzycka, and the dialogue director is Andrzej Majczak.
The concert is organized by the Krakowskie Forum Kultury and co-organized by KBF and the ICE Kraków Congress Centre. The concert is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund as part of the “Music” program implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance.
The concert will take place without an audience and will be broadcast free of charge via the PLAY KRAKÓW platform at playkrakow.com, where it will be available until the end of the year. This is the first city-wide cultural platform available throughout Poland, created for the City of Kraków. The operator of PLAY KRAKÓW is KBF.