Viva, opera!

By: Katarzyna Fortuna, Radio Krakow

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This year's IX “Opera Viva“Festival (24 June – 10 August) will begin with the classic operatic canon in three historical buildings of Krakow – the elegant interiors of the Slowacki Theatre, the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill and at the Barbican. An annual summer event, it already has its own tradition the first one was organised in 1998 and even then many Cracovians participated in it. In the past, guests of the event have included Mikhail Baryshnikov with his White Oak Dance Project, the Lviv Opera group, the University of Music in Graz, the Youth Opera from Stuttgart, and the Silesian Opera from Bytom, amongst others. Soloists have also made guest appearances in Krakow - they include Natela Nicoli, Joanna Kozlowska, Joanna Wo, Barbara Kubiak, Zbigniew Macias, Romuald Tesarowicz, Adam Zdunikowski and the world famous bass – Yevgeni Nestenko.

Throughout this year's festival we will see operas such as Gluck's ˛“Orpheus and Eurydice“ Verdi's “Rigoletto“, Moniuszko's “the Haunted Manor“, and Puccini's “Tosca“. The organiser has also prepared an open air spectacle called “Barbican at Night, Great Operas“, showing famous and popular overtures, arias and opera duets, as well as the “Barbican at Night, Baroque Music“, full of baroque songs. A great attraction, however, will be the performances at the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill. Listed in the festivities of the 100 years of regaining Wawel for the Polish people of 1905 - 2005, the Opera will also put on two performances belonging to the classic genre of Moniuszko's “the Haunted Manor“ and Puccini's “Tosca". Both librettos will touch on the me of nationality and liberation. The presence of the Krakow Opera throughout the festival on Wawel Hill will be the continuation of open air spectacles, which have been displayed for several seasons now, and have also returned to the Royal Court after more than a 20 year break. In the beautiful, air-conditioned interiors of the Slowacki Theatre, audiences from Krakow and other districts, and also numerous tourists, who visit Krakow throughout the summer period, will watch G. Verdi's „Rigoletto“ and “Orpheus and Eurydice“.

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