King Roger

Since its 1926 premiere, stagings of King Roger have been relatively rare. Two productions followed closely, the first at Theater Duisburg, Germany, in October 1928, and the second in October 1932 at the Národní divadlo in Prague. The first post-World War II presentation took place in Palermo in 1949 in the presence of its librettist, conducted by Mieczysław Mierzejewski, set design by Renato Guttuso, Giovanni Inghilleri sang Roger, Clara Petrella sang Roxana, Antonio Annaloro the Shepherd. After that some years passed before the opera was staged again.

In 1975, the New Opera Company in London produced the work under the baton of Charles Mackerras. In the USA the opera was first seen in 1981, in a concert version given by the St. Louis Symphony in St. Louis, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. That same year it was presented at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, conducted by Stanisław Wisłocki.

Since the late 1980s and into the present century, King Roger seems to have enjoyed something of a revival with about thirteen productions in many different locations. In 1988, the Long Beach Opera in California, known for its innovative approach to the repertoire, had Murry Sidlin as conductor and James Johnson as King Roger, Nancy Shade as Roxana, and Jonathan Mack as Edrisi.[6] A concert performance was given on 3 March 1990 at the Royal Festival Hall by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Andrew Davis. This was the opening concert of a festival of Szymanowski's works given by the South Bank Arts Centre. David Wilson-Johnson took the title role, with Wieslaw Ochman as the Shepherd, Eilene Hannan as Roxana, Martyn Hill as Edrisi, Matthew Best as the Archbishop and Anne Collins as the Archdeaconess.[7] Sydney Dance Company used the opera as a recorded soundtrack for its ballet of King Roger in the Sydney Opera House in 1990. Palermo presented King Roger again in 1992. Four concert versions were given by the end of the 1990s: the first by Orchestre National de France in Paris, conducted by Charles Dutoit in 1996 and at the London Proms by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle in 1998, while the third and fourth performances were presented in Montreal and subsequently, on October 17, 1999, at Carnegie Hall for the New York Premiere with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

In the 21st century, King Roger was given by the Polish National Opera in 2000 and in the same year also in Amsterdam by the Netherlands Opera, conducted by Hartmut Haenchen. In 2002, Charles Dutoit conducted the Japanese premiere of the work in a concert version with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, as well as in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic in 2007. The Mariinsky Opera Company brought the work to the Edinburgh Festival in 2008 under Valery Gergiev and directed by Mariusz Treliński.[8]

It was presented in Palermo in 2005 and also by the Wrocław Opera in 2007. A subsequent US performance was at the Bard SummerScape festival in 2008.[9][10]

Both the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and the Opéra National de Paris in Paris, conducted by Kazushi Ono presented it in 2009. In 2011, King Roger appeared at the Staatstheater Mainz. A new production of the opera was staged in Polish at The Santa Fe Opera on 21 July 2012 with Mariusz Kwiecień in the title role.[11][12] In 2013, King Roger was presented at the 17th Festival Amazonas de Ópera in Manaus, Brazil, with Marcin Bronikowski in the title role. In June 2014, a new production was staged at the Wuppertal Opera House in Germany.[13] Two performances took place in Boston in March 2015 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit. The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, introduced a new co-production with Opera Australia, conducted by Antonio Pappano, in May 2015. The first performance in Australia was shown by Opera Australia in 2017 in Sydney and Melbourne, conducted by Andrea Molino, with Saimir Pirgu as Shepherd.[14]

Place: Sicily

Time: 12th century

The story concerns the enlightenment of the Christian King Roger II by a young shepherd who represents pagan ideals.

• Earl of Harewood (Ed.), "King Roger", Kobbé's Complete Opera Book. Putnam: London and New York, 1954, pp. 1594–98
• Holden, Amanda (Ed.), "Karol Szymanowski", The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-14-029312-4

• King Roger: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Libretto (in Polish)
• Libretto (English translation)
• Kultiversum German-language page on King Roger
• Classical Composers.org page on Stanisław Michal Wisłocki
• Rob Barnett, CD review of Accord ACD 131, MusicWeb International, 4 May 2004
• Myers, Eric, King Roger, Time Out, New York, 22–30 July 2008. Review of the Bard College production
• King Roger, Op. 46 – Karol Szymanowski, Culture.pl
• King Roger, Op. 46 and the Clash of the Gods