St. Luke Passion at Alvernia Studios

Mystery of the Passion

A great composer, an unconventional director, and an extraordinary work – the premiere of the St. Luke Passion by Krzysztof Penderecki in a new, stage reading by Grzegorz Jarzyna takes place on 31 March and 1 April.

The performance, set against the futuristic interiors of Alvernia Studios, was created as an initiative by the National Audiovisual Institute as part of a summary of the National Cultural Programme of Poland’s Presidency 2011. The event also accompanies the 9th Misteria Paschalia Festival (2-9 April).

Vocal parts will be performed by Iwona Hossa (soprano), Piotr Nowacki (bass) and Thomas Bauer (baritone). The role of the Evangelist has been assigned to Lech Łotocki. The soloists will be accompanied by the Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble, the Pueri Cantores Sancti Nicolai Boys’ Choir, and the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of Tychy, conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki himself.

Passio et mors Domini nostri Iesu Christi secundum Lucam

Penderecki composed the St. Luke Passion on commission for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk radio station to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Münster cathedral, where it was first performed in March 1966. By choosing this religious format, the composer also noted the millennium since Poland became a Christian nation – an anniversary the Communist authorities at the time tried to ignore. The work became hugely successful immediately, and was awarded numerous prizes; shortly after its world premiere in Germany, it was performed at the Biennale of Contemporary Music in Venice, as well as in Kraków, and within a few years it resounded throughout Europe, the US, South America and Japan.

Penderecki was the first 20th-century composer to reach for a genre rooted in the St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach. He revived an old musical form, most commonly associated with the Baroque composer, but reaching back as far as mediaeval religious works. He combined tradition with an avant-garde while consciously bringing the German composer to mind. Penderecki used the similarities between the name and designations for musical keys, to set the Passion’s musical basis in the musical motif B-A-C-H, which, first presented in the opening hymn O Crux, ave, features over 100 times in the work.

The tricky melodic theme isn’t the only reason the Passion is challenging – the strings often play in dissonances a quarter of a tone apart, and one of the soprano arias is also based on quarter-tone intervals. Melodies and words are often divided into individual notes and syllables between different instruments and voices, while the choir’s part extends far beyond traditional singing into recited fragments, glissandos, laughter, whistling, moaning, shouting or humming. Yet the modern musical language isn’t difficult for the listeners – the work has a clear construction and comprehensible content, and has a powerful effect on the emotions. That’s just the effect the composer was after: “I don’t mind how the Passion will be defined – whether it’s traditional or avant-garde. For me it’s simply authentic, and that’s enough.”

This extraordinary work will gain a new dimension through the collaboration between Penderecki and Grzegorz Jarzyna. The latter, one of the most outstanding and interesting Polish theatre directors of the present day, will transpose the Passion onto the stage. Jarzyna claims to have known the work since he was 16 – in fact it was Penderecki’s music that started his adventure with classical music. This fascination has been reflected in his adaptations of the operas Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni by Mozart, The Gambler by Prokofiev, and The Child and the Spells by Ravel. So what will be his take on the Passion? How will Jarzyna surprise the audience this time? (Barbara Skowrońska, Karnet monthly)

Grzegorz Jarzyna – director
Krzysztof Penderecki – conductor

Performers:
Iwona Hossa – soprano
Piotr Nowacki – bass
Thomas Bauer – baritone
Lech Łotocki – evangelist

AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the Town of Tychy
CAMERATA SILESIA Singers’ Ensemble of Katowice
PUERI CANTORES SANCTI NICOLAI Boy’s Choir
Marek Moś – orchestra preparation
Anna Szostak-Myrczek – choir preparation
Maciej Tworek – conductor’s assistant

The shows are being organised by the National Audiovisual Institute, the City of Krakow, Krakow Festival Office, Katowice City of Gardens Cultural Institution and the City of Katowice.

31 March 2012, 8pm
1 April 2012, 7pm

Tickets, priced at PLN 120, will be on sale from 20 February on eventim.pl and in three InfoKraków network points: in ul. św. Jana 2, in the Wyspiański Pavilion (pl. Wszystkich Świętych 2) and the Tourist Services Centre (ul. Powiśle 11). The price also includes transport from Krakow or Katowice.