The Polish world premiere of the opera “Aspern” by Salvatore Sciarrino – one of the most outstanding contemporary composers – will take place on September 16 on the stage of STUDIO teatrgalerii. The work analyzes complicated human relationships and their subsequent consequences. The opera, performed by musicians from Hashtag Ensemble and invited guests, is directed by Pia Partum. The leading roles will be performed by Monika Niemczyk, Tomasz Nosinski and Halina Rasiakówna. The event is part of the accompanying program of the 66th International Festival of Contemporary Music “Warsaw Autumn”.
The libretto was inspired by Henry James’s short story “The Aspern Papers”. “Aspern” is a work about manipulation, ruthlessness in pursuing a desired goal, and the search for love and vulnerability. Sciarrino tells in it about a cruel game between people and the bitter price they are willing to pay for their dreams.
Salvatore Sciarrino is one of my favorite composers. I reach for his opera again and again. We have already staged “Luci mie traditrici” and “Superfluminę” in Poland. “Aspern” is the next work. Exceptional. Alongside the singer, three actors perform in it. In one work, theater and opera are combined. For me as a director, this is a fascinating challenge. The music, full of silence, almost inaudible rustles so typical of Sciarrino, overlaps with texts spoken simultaneously and at the same time sung – says Pia Partum, director.
The libretto is extremely poetic. It is a free impression, whose only distant basis is Henry James’s short story. The texts are fragmented, the plot similarly, the singer’s voice intertwines with the spoken text – often deliberately drowned out by the orchestra. I think Sciarrino’s aim was to convey the atmosphere of the short story in its musical and spoken form. “Aspern” is a kind of collection of tattered flashes, which – here and there – illuminate fragments of a mysterious story. As the composer himself writes, “merely echoes of echoes” – a series of mirrors in which a memory distant in time is reflected. I try to convey this in my work – adds the director.
The singspiel scored for soprano, a 6-member instrumental ensemble and 3 actors is an original combination of opera and dramatic theater, singing and speech. Refined instrumental parts create a musical fabric in which silence, rustles, whispers and ethereal breaths intertwine with traditional songs of Venetian gondoliers.
Alongside the musicians of the Warsaw cooperative Hashtag Ensemble: Ani Karpowicz, Dominik Płociński and Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska, the Polish premiere of the work will be performed by: Joanna Freszel, Gośka Ipshording, Hubert Zemler and Małgorzata Hlawsa. The conductor Lilianna Krych is responsible for the musical side of the undertaking.
“Aspern” is one of Sciarrino’s earliest operas. You can see how the language of sound notation takes shape in it, which the composer uses throughout his entire work. However, elements typical of him, such as combining avant-garde instrumental and vocal techniques with inspiration from great literature and ancient music or the enormous role of silence, are already clearly present here. Besides the flutes beloved by Sciarrino in all their varieties, the viola plays an important role as well as the harpsichord treated in a contemporary manner. Sciarrino is one of the few composers of the twentieth century whose music cannot be confused with any other and which makes us hold our breath and listen carefully – says Lilianna Krych, conductor.
The organizer of the event is the Warsaw Theater Society. The event’s patron is ORLEN. Event partners are: STUDIO teatrgaleria, 66th International Festival of Contemporary Music “Warsaw Autumn”, Dwójka – Program 2 of Polish Radio, Contemporary Music Space Hashtag Lab, Modern Opera Society and STOART.
The Polish premiere of “Aspern” was co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state-purpose fund, as part of the “Music” program, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.