Szymanowski was born in Poland’s
eastern borderlands and his life
and work exemplify the country’s
little-known cultural melange.
The intermingling of Catholic,
Orthodox, Jewish and Muslim
traditions with which the composer
maintained a lifelong contact and
which are clearly discernible in his
musical output, reveal Poland to be
an open and tolerant nation with
a long multicultural heritage.
Since the 1990’s, interest in
Szymanowski’s work has been
steadily growing among musicians,
music theorists and music
historians all over the world.
Hence, the decision to name
Karol Szymanowski one of the
figureheads of the International
Cultural Programme of the Polish
EU Presidency was motivated by
a desire to pick up where all of our
previous activity in this area left
off and to take the promotion of
Szymanowski’s music even further.
kinG ROGeR
inwarsaw
The Presidency was inaugurated at
home in Poland with a brand new
adaptation of Karol Szymanowski’s
opera
King Roger
with a libretto
by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. British
director David Pountney brought
the opera to the stage of Polish
National Opera in Warsaw from its
2009 premiere engagement at the
Bregenz Festival.
King roger
directed by David Pountney.
Polish National Opera in Warsaw, 1
July 2011. Pictured: Will Hartmann
(Shepherd) and Monika Mych (Roxana)
38
adam mickiewicz institute
