2001
(2019, micro-opera, music and libretto by Patricia Martínez)
Prizewinner & Commissioned by International Stanisław Moniuszko Composers’ Competition.
Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa (Great Theatre-National Opera), Warsaw.
Synopsis
Please imagine this sort of situation in your life right now: at least every fourth person among the ones close to you and your extended family, and basically every fourth human being surrounding you, has no job and is struggling to find it. The currency of your country loses its worth hour by hour and you become more and more unable to purchase anything. Patricia Elizabeth Martinez's work is about the events in Argentina at the beginning of our century. The country, unstable both politically and economically struggled to keep one president in office for more than a year, causing unrest and social disappointment. The composer introduces the mode of public protest into the space of an opera theatre: it is an interventional, journalistic and socially conscious piece, which — curiously — is still a rarity? 2001 lets the audience members gain a feeling of being a bit closer to those events and is a genuine example of a search for a musical language that would seem appropriate to tell that story. One of more interesting ways to achieve that goal is dividing words into syllables and giving only one of them to each of the Protestors: it is the listener's ear that has to connect the pieces together in order to understand what they are fighting for. What is also crucial in understanding 2001 is the character of the Journalist, a heroine losing the virtue of journalistic objectiveness in order to remain human.
Krzysztof Knurek
Dramaturgy, stage director
Polish translation of the libretto: Pawel Strzelecki
Commissioned by The International Stanisław Moniuszko Composers’ Competition for a micro-opera entitled “12 Minutes for Moniuszko”
Conductor-jury Jerzy Wołosiuk
Director-jury Janusz Wiśniewski
Choreographer Emil Wesołowski
Associate director Krzysztof Knurek
Singers: Piotr Pieron, Marta Motkowicz, Wojciech Parchem, Katarzyna Trylnik, Ania Farysej, Anna Bernacka, Zbigniew Malak and Jakub Michalski.
Orkiestra Teatru Wielkiego Opery Narodowej: Mateusz Konopelski, Maciej Przestrzelski, Katarzyna Książkiewicz, Alfred Wiltos, Michal Sobus, Agnieszka Prosowska Iwicka, Marcin Stawiszynski, Bogdan Kraski, Marek Szaparkiewicz, Krzysztof Koszowki, Michał Kiljan, Piotr Dąbrowski, Krzysztof Szmanda, Katarzyna Bojaryn .
Jury: Krzysztof Penderecki, Zygmunt Krauze , Waldemar Dąbrowski, Jerzy Kornowicz , Ryszard Golianek , Hania Kulenty Majoor
Producer: Izabela Zymer;
Video: Patricia Martínez
Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC Library of the Polish Composers' Union
Polish Composers' Union
Wojtek Olszanka Photography
