Performances

‘Aida’ is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi composed to a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. It was conceived as a special commission by the khediv of Egypt, Isma'il Pasha, for the opening of the Cairo Opera House. The enthusiastic reception of the opera by audiences of the time and its subsequent premieres on world opera stages meant that the story of the Ethiopian princess found its permanent place in the canon of opera literature. The work became one of t

“It's an opera for children because it attempts to recreate my own childhood. You see, when I was a child, I lived in Italy, and in Italy there is no Santa Claus. I suppose Santa Claus is too busy with American children to attend to Italian ones as well. Our gifts were brought to us by the Three Kings. (...) I owe those Three Kings, above all, the joyful Christmases of my childhood, and I should have remained very grateful to them. Instead, I came to America and soon forgot about them, because h

For over a century, directors staging Ariadne on Naxos have delighted in teasing their audiences. Richard Strauss’s opera is a story about us—about how we try to reconcile reason with feeling, and art with everyday chaos. Born of the composer’s collaboration with the acclaimed dramatist and poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, it tells of the interweaving of different worlds: melancholy and laughter, despair and immortality, ideas and reality. It is also a colourful artistic pat

"Ballet Meetings" offers a unique opportunity to experience the world of ballet from the inside. It is a series of innovative ballet-focused events combining performance with an educational and interactive program.The event schedule includes:- a demonstration class in classical or jazz dance,- a 30-minute rehearsal with a choreographer,- a performance of a ballet étude,- a meeting with an artist - Stefan Żeromski (08.11), Grzegorz Pańtak (22.11)- a 30-mi

A production of Teatro Petruzzelli and the Kraków Opera“Bona Sforza” is a new contemporary classical opera in two acts dedicated to Queen Bona of Aragon, the result of an international collaboration between Kraków and Bari. The joint work on the performance aims to portray the great historical figure, her life, the cultural and political context of the time and to build a real cooperation between the cities: Bari-Kraków.The classical opera will show three different faces

A production of Teatro Petruzzelli and the Krakow Opera in the beautiful setting of the Wawel Royal Castle!“Bona Sforza” is a new contemporary classical opera in two acts dedicated to Queen Bona of Aragon, the result of an international collaboration between Kraków and Bari. The joint work on the performance aims to portray the great historical figure, her life, the cultural and political context of the time and to build a real cooperation between the cities: Bari-Kraków.

In its first version Carmen was written in a form similar to a comic opera, where songs and spoken parts intertwined. This fact, according to the then custom, blocked the work’s way to the stage of Great Paris Opera and the first night had to take place in the Comic Opera. However, the audience of that place preferred light and funny musical comedies and did not appreciate the tragic ending of Bizet’s work - this is one of the reasons of a cold reception of Carm

"Carmen's Love Affairs" is a ballet based on contemporary dance with elements of classical dance. The spectacle comes in two parts. The first one features Manuel de Falla's music El Amor Brujo as its theme. In this segment, the audience learns the story of Carmen's childhood, infused with the turbulent relationship with her parents – mother in particular – and tainted by death of her father, both of which had such a notable impact on her subsequent life. The fir

“Carmina Burana”, called by some people a stage cantata and by others – an oratorio, is based on secular mediaeval songs, discovered in 1803 in the Bavarian monastery Benediktbeuern. Carl Orff selected from this vast collection of texts, created by vagrants, students and wandering clerics, 24 songs and composed them in some sort of a libretto. The first part comprises songs celebrating nature and the awakening spring, the second part is a praise of Bacchus and t

The ballet rendition of the popular fairy tale of Cinderella, two mean stepsisters and a cruel stepmother has been prepared by Giorgio Madia, an eminent choreographer from Milan. The former soloist with the Bejart Ballet and the San Franciscoo Ballet, today he works on his own productions on the musical stages of Vienna and Berlin. “Cinderella” in his interpretation is enhanced with new meanings, while still retaining the universal sense of the tale. Combining s

"He stopped the Sun, moved the Earth..." - although Nicolaus Copernicus is considered the greatest and most famous Polish scientist, his biography, full picture of his achievements and versatility worthy of a Renaissance man are not widely known today. 550 years after the birth of the astronomer, the Krakow Opera and the artists and producers invited to cooperate want to bring his story back to Polish pop culture, translating it into the language of the musical.The libretto will refe

It is considered the most outstanding opera of all Donizetti’s 70 coperatic works and the best Italian comic opera ever. It has been called “a jewel of charm, lightness and joyful humour”. This musical treasure is based on a bravado plot, getting the characters involved in risky adventures. As usual money, and of course love, are at stake, though in this case love comes second. This work of unique beauty represents the genre at its best. Jerzy Stuhr plays with t

Faust is the archetype of human arrogance, and it is Gounod’s opera that reminds us of it. Garden scenes, duels and sentimental tricks of a seducer give way to the metaphysics of Walpurgis Night, the angelic choirs over Marguerite and Valentin’s farewell to the world. We also start our performance with Goethe’s text. However, it will be the Dedication and dialogue between the Director of the theatre and the Poet. A surprising tradition of romantic dramas, precisely on the first pages of the orig

‘...freshness, youth, passion, cheerfulness, tears shed in silence, a love that gives you joy and makes you suffer,’ Puccini wrote about the perfect theme for an opera which he had found in Murger’s novel Scènes de la vie de bohème, which he himself could relate to through his own experience of several years spent as a student and artist at Milan’s conservatory. The duo of Giacosa and Illica magically turned the material into a superb libretto, not without some

“La Traviata”, based on the novel “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas, fils, is a story of a fallen woman, a high-class Parisian courtesan and her salvation through a sacrificial offering of love and death. Krzysztof Nazar dispenses with the historical costume and the social context of the plot, focusing instead on the characters’ psychology, emotions and motivations. In his interpretation, Violetta Valéry faces the fact of terminal illness and the in

Lottery for Husbands, or Fiancé No. 69 holds a special place in Karol Szymanowski’s oeuvre. It is the only instance when the composer opted for the lighter genre of operetta. The plot is set in 1908 in America. A local car factory owner, Tobiasz Helgoland, has two sons, Charly and Darly. The bibulous rascals cross paths with a scheming impresario who travels across the country holding husband lotteries that attract the attention of old maids. Among those who turn up at one o

One of the most beautiful stories of unrequited love. It tells us of Geisha Cio-Cio-San’s passion to a US Navy Lieutenant which ends tragically for the girl owing to cross-cultural misalliance and differences. Since the 1904 premiere, the opera has belonged to the world repertoire. It has always been an ambition of the greatest soprano voices to interpret the main role. Obviously, the figure of Butterfly dominates the opera, and the scale of passions involved in

A ballet premiere directed and choreographed by Jacek Tyski to the music of W. A. Mozart. The Requiem in D minor is one of Mozart’s greatest sacred works and, at the same time, his last, unfinished composition. The score was completed by the composer’s friend Joseph Eybler and his student Franz Xaver Süssmayr. The work is deeply rooted in Christian tradition and will be presented using the language of dance.This exceptional ballet performance, accompanied by a stirring perfo

One of the most popular works by Ludomir Różycki – only in the period of 1921-1929 it was staged as many as 300 times. Originally, the composer told the story of the legendary Polish sorcerer, using a symphonic poem, yet later he "translated" it into the language of ballet. The libretto was prepared by Różycki's wife Stefania (writing under the pseudonym of S. Ordon), on the basis of novel Master Twardowski by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski. Nine ballet paintings illustrate successive scenes from the m

“The Barber of Seville” by G. Rossini is an opera buffa considered to be the leading example of the genre. It is the most well-known and loved work by the composer, filled with beautiful music, based on an excellent libretto and presenting itself as “an inexhaustible well of theatrical humour,” as Piotr Kamiński wrote in his book “Tysiąc i jedna opera,” [“One-thousand and One Operas.”] The music director for Rossini’s opera is Tomasz Tokarczyk, while Jerzy Stuhr

A witty operetta with an upper-crust intrigue-driven plot, set in a 19th c. resort by Vienna. Old Vienna is a true lead of this operetta, one of the best and most popular in the world. Composing the work took Johann Strauss, the famous “king of the waltz,” a mere few weeks, and the world premiere turned out to be a huge success. A brilliant comedy of errors with an intriguing libretto in a perfect translation by Julian Tuwim continues to win admirers to this day.The translation of “D

The First Wrinkle is a comic opera by Teodor Leszetycki, a forgotten 19th-century salon work, a light and wildly funny comedy full of witty humor for a vocal quartet. The libretto by Salomon Hermann von Mosenthal ironically and humorously addresses the female fear of aging, while at the same time revealing the social conventions about age, transience, and love hidden beneath the surface.

Who does not know from childhood the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale about a good fisherman, his greedy wife and the goldfish, fulfilling every wish ... Until ... This eye-opening and still up-to-date story became the basis for a dance and music performance,  presented by the artists of the Ballet and the students of the Krakow Opera Ballet Studio.  The music for the performance was composed by a pianist, composer and teacher Olena Leonova, a graduate of the P. Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Music Aca

As part of the OPERA(ME! EDUCATION) project, a series of musical and educational meetings is being launchedfor children aged 3-9, entitled: The Ghost of the Opera.Each meeting is an encounter with the fascinating world of music in the form of workshops.These fun, magical, and enchanting meetings draw on the beloved adventures ofProfessor Violinek and the Ghost of Angus. This is a fantastic opportunity for the youngest childrento experience the fascinating worl

“Behind the mountains, behind forests, or maybe behind the lakes, behind the seas or meadows and rivers, but certainly among green trees, on the edge of a fairy tale, Bulbik and Bulbinka live in a glove lost by someone. They are detectives known in all fairy tales, legends and fairy tales. They have already unraveled many mysteries and solved many, many puzzles, e.g. why the sleeping beauty could not fall asleep and she yawned all day long. Why? I don't know, but they know! Because they are DETE

Sandor Barinkay, the son of the former Governor returns to his castle. His companion, the Royal Commissioner Carnero reinstates the family land ownership to Sandor. The new heir is welcomed by an old Gypsy Czipra, telling him that he would regain property and love. His neighbour Zsupan Kalman, a pig breeder who is unable to seize Barinkay's land, decides to make his daughter Arsena marry Sandor. The girl, however, is in love with Ottokar, the son of her Governes

Two brothers returning from the battlefield make a promise to remain bachelors, but when they meet the beautiful ladies from the neighbouring manor, their vows become much harder to keep... Director, Laco Adamik, aims at revealing Polish national vices and show that, regardless of the epoch, these vices remain the same. The prologue and the epilogue refer to the present day, thus giving the show a modern frame

Although it has been over two hundred years since the premiere of "The Marriage of Figaro" which took place on 1 May 1786 in Vienna’s Burgtheater, the opera's attractiveness has not faded away. It is the masterpiece of the opera theatre. The great libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte and based on a brilliant comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais which turned out to have prophetic inclinations over the coming French Revolution. The music was wonderfully light and sensuous. It mirrored the tensions of

One of the world’s most popular classical ballets is a story of a girl taken by her Christmas toy on a journey through a fairyland of wonders where anything is possible... The fairytale novella "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" was written in 1816 by the German poet and author E. T. A. Hoffmann. The ballet rendition of the story was conceived by the imagination of Marius Petipa, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky was commissioned to compose the music, following the success

„Tosca” . An opera-thriller set against the monumental scenery of the Eternal City. Three striking protagonists—every ambitious performer’s dream: Tosca, Cavaradossi, and Scarpia—bound together in an inextricable embrace of love, betrayal, and death. The lofty ideals and celebration of beauty embodied by the two lovers collide with a cruel reality ruled by the jealous chief of the Roman police.The librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, adapting the prose of Victorien Sardou a

A tale about a princess who orders, in cold blood, her suitors to be beheaded if they fail to guess her three riddles. Calaf, the son of a dethroned Tatar king, who has just arrived and witnesses the cruel Turandot sentencing yet another of her victims - the Persian Prince - accepts the challenge. Ignoring the pleas of his father who is spending exile in the company of servant Liù, whom he just came across in a crowd awaiting the execution, Calaf solves the three riddles. Turandot despairs and r

There are thousands of reasons why an operetta is gorgeous. The scent of a landscape, the flair of an era, the accents of a language so as the taste of a special way of life and the immeasurable force of its melodies. These elements are the expression of a human desire for a joyful existence, back then and now. Timeless and universal, Wiener Blut, based on the music by Johann Strauss II and restored shortly after his death, is witty, light and sentimental, it gets in your blood and asks