THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN
Mykietyn / Sikorska-Miszczuk / Chyra / Bałka

Paweł Mykietyn 

He is a composer and clarinettist, since 2008 the music director of Nowy Teatr in Warsaw and the author of music to the majority of Krzysztof Warlikowski’s shows. He also composes the music commisionned by other festivals and institutions, for instance Warszawska Jesien and Polskie Radio. He is also the author of film scores; he collaborated for instance with Małgorzata Szumowska, Mariusz Trelinski, Andrzej Wajda and Jan Hrywniak. In 2012, he received the prestigious Prix France Musique Sacem award for his music to Jerzy Skolimowski’s film Essential Killing.

Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk

She is a playwright and scriptwriter. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science as well as Gender Studies of the University of Warsaw, and from the Scriptwriting School of the National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre (PWSFTiT) in Łódz. She is the author of such plays as Śmierc Człowieka-Wiewiórki, Burmistrz, Walizka, Szajba, Bruno Schulz: Mesjasz. Her plays were directed for instance by Michał Zadara, Jan Klata, Piotr Kruszczyński, Marcin Liber and Natalia Korczakowska. In 2012, she received the Gdyńska Nagroda Dramaturgiczna award for her play Popiełuszko.

Andrzej Chyra 

He is an actor and director. He graduated from the Faculty of Acting (1987) and the Faculty of Direction (1994) of the National Higher School of Theatre (PWST) in Warsaw. From 2000–2007, he was an actor at Teatr Rozmaitosci in Warsaw and since 2008 at Krzysztof Warlikowski’s Nowy Teatr. Public at large knows him predominantly from his roles in films, such as Dług, Zmruż oczy,  Komornik, Katyń, Wszystko co kocham, W imię. In 2012, he directed Dmitri Shostakovich’s/Krzystof Meyer’s opera The Gamblers in Baltic Opera in Gdansk.

Mirosław Bałka 

He is one of the most outstanding contemporary visual artists, a sculptor is a sculptor also active on the field of experimental video and drawing. He also creates installations. His works can be found in such museums as Tate Modern (London), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Hishhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington), Museet for Samtid-kunst (Oslo), Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven) and The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles). In 2009, the artist was invited to exhibit his work in the Turbine Hall in Tate Modern, London.

MARIA STOKŁOSA

She is a choreographer, a dancer, an activist. She is a graduate of the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam as well as London Contemporary Dance School. She is the author of performances such as Wylinka, MaMa Perform, Intercontinental or Prawa Półkula presented in Poland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Russia and the USA. In 2006–2008 she danced in Jeremy Wade’s group. She is a propagator of experimental choreography and the founder of Burdąg Foundation. Since 2014 she has also chaired the Programme Council of the Institute of Music and Dance.

MAGDALENA MACIEJEWSKA

She is the author of 150 costume designs for plays, films, music videos and television productions. From 1998 to 2014 she was involved with TR Warszawa. She cooperated with Krystian Lupa, Grzegorz Jarzyna, Agnieszka Holland, Krystyna Janda, Wojtek Smarzowski and Mariusz Treliński. She worked for the National Theatre in Warsaw and Cracow, the Lyon Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Burgtheater, Vienna Schauspiel Essen Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Schaubuchne Berlin.

Adam Banaszak 

Conductor. Graduate of the Poznan Music Academy. He took part in many master courses lead by musicians such as Dejan Savic and Bernard Haitink. In 2011 he made his debut in opera with Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Verdi’s Traviata and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Since 2006 he conducts the L’Autunno Chamber Orchestra. As part of his conductors practice he prepared orchestras for performances with many prominent artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Jose Carreras, Montserrat Caballe and Placido Domingo. 

Bartosz Nalazek

Camera operator and lighting designer. Graduate of the Lodz Film School, department of Direction of Photography. Assistant to camera operator Janusz Kamiński in Steven Spielberg’s films War Horse, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies and David Dobkin’s The Judge. Second unit operator in Boy Choir directed by Francois Girard. In 2014 he shot the series of short films Making a Scene for The New York times Magazine featuring actors such as Cate Blanchett, Forest Whitaker, Bradley Cooper, Oscar Isaac, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Robert Redford. He won the Emerging Cinematographer Award for the most promising young camera men awarded by the International Cinematographers Guild in Los Angeles. 

Ewa Guziołek-Tubelewicz

Sound engineer. Graduate of the department of Sound Engineering at the Warsaw Music Academy (1982). From 1983 she works at the Polish Radio Experimental Studio. During that time she supervised a lot of recordings for the Polish Radio at festivals such as Misteria Paschalia, Sacrum Profanum, Wratislavia Cantans, Warsaw Autumn, Musica Polonica Nova and Musica Electronica Nova. She worked on album releases of Mykietyn’s The Passion According to St. Mark, Agata Zubel’s Krzysztof Penderecki and Johnny Greenwood, Not I and Casando and Piotr Orzechowski’s Pianohooligan: Experiment: Penderecki and
15 Studies for the Oberek. She specializes in multichannel music projections used for example at the festival Warsaw Autumn. 

Agata Zubel

Singer (soprano), composer, with a PhD in music. A graduate of composer studies (2002) and vocal studies at the University of Music in Wrocław (2005). Contemporary music features especially strongly in her repertoire. She has recorded the works of many contemporary artists including Lutosławski, Lang, Sciarrino, Krauze, she has played the main role in Jaskot’s Fedra and Madeline in The Fall of the House of Usher by Glass. She cooperated with key groups in new music such as Klangforum Wien, musikFabrik, London Sinfonietta, Eighth Blackbird Ensemble, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Seattle Chamber Players. She received many prizes both as a vocalist and as a composer. In 2014 the minister of culture and national heritage awarded her the honorary distinction of “Merit for Polish culture”.

Łukasz Konieczny 

Singer (bass). A graduate of the University of Music in Wrocław (2009). He also studied acting at the International Film School in Cologne and he took part in the masterclasses conducted by Professor Christiana Elssnera, Deborah Polaski, Davida Syrus, Linda Watson, Franz Grundheber. From 2009 to 2011 he was a singer at the Opera Studio of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where he became a soloist in 2011.
Szymon Maliszewski Singer (bass-baritone). Student of the University of Music in Katowice. A participant of the masterclasses conducted by Olga Pasiecznik, Marek Rzepka and Dominikus Burghardt. He performed as a soloist with z Academic Baroque Orchestra from Katowice, Telemann Orchestra from Bielsko-Biała and Amadeus Trio. Apart from being a vocalist, he is also a trained symphonic conductor and a music journalist.

Szymon Komasa

Singer (baritone). A graduate of the Vocal and Acting Faculty at the Academy of Music
in Łódź (2008). He continued his education as a vocalist at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. At the moment he is mentored by Edith Wiens at Juilliard School / Studio by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He performed in Arena di Verona, Teatro Filharmonico, at Carnegie Hall in New York, at Semperoper in Dresden, at Barbican Hall in London, on the “Young artists” stage by Metropolitan Opera (Peter Jay Sharp Theatre), at Teatro Massimo in Palermo. In 2010 he represented Poland in the finale of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competitions. 

Barbara Kinga Majewska

A graduate of the vocal faculty and music pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold (2011), a PhD student of Psychopedagogy of Creativity Institute at Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw. She studied solo singing at Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and musicology at Warsaw University. She took part in masterclasses conducted by Angelica Kirchschlager, Grace Bumbry, Christa Ludwig, Barbara Bonney, András Schiff.

Juan Noval Moro

Singer (tenor). Graduate of vocal studies at Universidad Johannes zu Gutenberg in Mainz, Opera Studio Renata Scotto Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome as well as musicology at the University in Oviedo. He performed in operas on the Ludwigsburg Festival, Staatstheater Mainz y Thüringer Landestheater Rudolstadt, Frankfurt Opera, Música Antigua de Aranjue Festival, Festival lírico del Auditorio de Roma, Teatro Real in Madrid. He cooperated with conductors such as: Plácido Domingo, Sylvain Cambreling, Daniel Harding, Mark Minkowski, Tugan Sokhiev, László Heltay, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Krzysztof Penderecki, Pablo Heras-Casado.

Urszula Kryger

Singer (mezzo-soprano). A graduate of the University of Music in Łódź: class of piano (1988) as well as in singing and acting (1992). She continued her vocal studies under the direction of Andrzej Orłowicz in Kopenhagen. She participated in many international music competitions and received many prizes. She cooperated with renowned pianists including Hartmut Höll, Charles Spencer, Melvyn Tan and Pascal Rogé, clarinettist Paul Meyer, Tokyo String Quartet, Petersen Quartet. She has made many recordings for broadcasting stations in Poland, France, Germany and Switzerland and for music labels such as Decca, CPO, DUX. She sits on the jury of numerous music competitions. She has been the head of the vocal class at the University of Music in Łódź since 2002. She has been the dean of the vocal and acting department at this school since 2012.

Jadwiga Rappé 

Singer (alto). A graduate of the University of Music in Wrocław. She performed at Musikverein, Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw, Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center; at operas such as: Deutsche Oper Berlin, Covent Garden, La Monnaie, Wiener Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Grand Théâtre de Genève; and on many festivals. She cooperated with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davies, Seiji Ozawa, Leopold Hager, Helmuth Rilling, Charles Dutoit, Armin Jordan, Krzysztof Penderecki, Lorin Maazel, Kent Nagano, Sir Simon Rattle. She recorded over 50 albums for labels such Philips, Eterna, EMI, Erato, Teldec, Orfeo, BMG, Decca, Naxos and Polskie Nagrania. She sits on juries of numerous music competitions. She is the head of the vocal class at the University of Music in Warsaw and she cooperates with the University of Music in Gdańsk. 

Marcin Habela

Singer (baritone). A graduate of Conservatoire de Paris. He has performed leading baritone roles on festivals and in halls including Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel and Cité de la Musique, Victoria Hall, La Monnaie, Lyon Opera, Montpellier, Marseille, Berlin, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Festival Radio-France, Chorégies d’Orange, Maifestspielen-Wiesbaden; he worked with conductors such as Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano, Evelino Pidò, Marco Guidarini, Michel Corboz. An aficionado of contemporary vocal music, he performs the music of Benjamin Britten, Aribert Reimann, Hans Werner Henze, Gershon Kingsley and a repertoire of chamber music. He recorded for Radio France, Espace 2, TSR, EMI, RAI, SBB, Decca.

Karol Kozłowski

Singer (tenor). A graduate of the University of Music in Gdańsk (2007) and the Department of Sculpture at the University of Art in Warsaw. From 2007 to 2009 he performed as a soloist at the Wrocław Opera. He has been associated with the Polish National Opera since 2009. He is a renowned performer of baroque music, including the part of the Evangelist in both of Bach’s passions, as well as German lyrical song.

Anna Gadt

Singer and composer. Graduate of the Academy of Music in Katowice, department of Jazz and Popular Music (2006). She released three original albums; Na mojej drodze, Still I Rise, Breathing. Currently working as a tutor at the Academy of Music in Katowice.

Agnieszka Kiepuszewska

Singer, composer and author. Graduate of the Poznań Music Academy, department of Choral Conducting and the Academy of Music in Katowice, Jazz department. From 2009 she has been working with the Silesian Opera and the gospel choir Joyful Voice as conductor and vocal coach. Her debut album Silenie had its premiere in 2012.

Iwona Kmiecik

Singer, composer, pianist and producer. Graduate of the Academy of Music in Katowice, department of Composition, Interpretation, Education and Jazz (2011). She learned under the eye of such artist as Judy Bady, Gerald Trottman, Peter Francis and Lora Szafran. In 2013 she released her debut album Kolor Szlachetności with her own original compositions.

Michał Dembiński

Singer (bass). Graduate of the Frideric Chopin Uniwersity in Warsaw. In 2013 he made his debut in the Polish National Opera in Midsummer Night’s Dream by Banjamin Britten. Solo singer for the Polish National Philharmonic in Warsaw.

Jacek Kotlarski

Singer. Graduate of the Academy of Music in Katowice, department of Jazz and Popular Music. In 2012 he released a debut album Nigdy nie jest za późno strongly influenced by soul music from the 70’s and 80’s.

Marcin Wawrzynowicz

Singer. Graduate of the Wroclaw Music Academy, department of Music Therapy (2005) and the Academy of Music in Katowice, department of Jazz and Popular Music (2009). Since 2013 tutor at the Academy of Music in Katowice. Since 2007 connected with Teatr Rozrywki in Chorzow. He released two original albums; Missa Pacis and Camamey.
 

music: Paweł Mykietyn
concept of libretto, libretto: Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk
concept of libretto, direction: Andrzej Chyra
music direction: Adam Banaszak
stage design: Mirosław Bałka
costumes: Magdalena Maciejewska
stage movement: Maria Stokłosa
lightning design: Bartosz Nalazek
sound design: Ewa Guziołek-Tubylewicz
hair stylist: Paweł Kaleta
makeup: Maria Ciernioch i Katarzyna Kałek-Dekert
video: Mikołaj Szymkowiak
translation into german: Andreas Volk
cooperation in translating act I: Barbara Sierosławski
translation into english: Artur Zapałowski
literary consultations: Michał Pabian
music recording: 7.1 Dreamsound, Rafał Smoleń,
Filip Krzyżykowski (collaboration)
 

soloist
American: Agata Zubel
Behrens: Łukasz Konieczny
Joachim: Szymon Maliszewski
Hans: Szymon Komasa
Clavdia: Barbara Majewska
Krokowski: Juan Noval Moro
Naphta: Urszula Kryger
Mrs Stöhr: Jadwiga Rappe
Peeperkorn: Marcin Habela
Settembrini: Karol Kozłowski
choir/Elly Brand: Anna Gadt
choir/Marusia: Agnieszka Kniepuszewska
choir/Wehsal: Michał Dembiński
choir: Iwona Kmiecik
choir: Jacek Kotlarski
choir: Marcin Wawrzynowicz

assistant of Andrzej Chyra: Michał Kurkowski
assistant of Magdalena Maciejewska: Agnieszka Beaupre
assistant of Mirosław Bałka: Urszula Kuczyńska, Kaja Migdałek
project coordinator: Magdalena Charczuk
producer: Julia Stryjska

The opera was commissioned by Malta Festival Poznań 2015
World premiere: 26/06/2015
Production: Malta Festival Poznań, Krakow Festival Office, Program II Polskiego Radia