Król Roger, Opera in three acts

Karol Symanowski is a composer that is not heard much of these days, and while he is not one of my favourites and never will be his musical style is really intriguing and is not as inaccessible as one might fear.

His 1926 opera 'King Roger' is one of his better-known works, and while it is not going to be for all tastes (certainly at least at first) for me it was one of my best-faring first-time-viewings-and-listens for opera recently. The story/libretto is fascinating in its ideas and themes, philosophical and literary, and is always compelling and surprisingly easy to follow. Symanowski's music was remarkably listenable too, it's rich in broad influences like early Stravinsky and late Wagner but is intensely haunting and hypnotically beautiful, also quite tuneful for an opera written when Expressionism was still very much alive.

This production from Royal Opera House, Covent Garden is a triumph and is one of their best productions recently. After seeing my fair share of distastefully staged and visually ugly (admittedly though often musically outstanding, though not always) productions from then recently, their production of 'King Roger' was refreshing. A very philosophical opera and heavily (but thankfully never distractingly or superfluously) symbolic production, visually it's incredibly striking. Even when updated from 12th century Sicily to the 1920s, there is such a strong atmosphere evoked right from the start and it doesn't let up until well beyond the opera's finish. The production also looks great on DVD, dynamically directed for video with clear picture quality and resonant sound.

Stage direction of Kasper Holten is some of his most entertaining, most intelligent and most cohesive. Nothing is there without a reason, nothing is distasteful or unnecessary and there is always a strong sense of atmosphere and storytelling. Nothing is over-the-top (not even the dancers) and nothing is static. The choreography is seductive and arresting, and the dancers always look so dexterous and animated, while the ending is ambiguous which is deliberate and appropriate (so is the opera's ending). Musically, the production is exceptional, with luminous and sometimes hair-raising orchestral playing and the chorus are also on top form vocally, with beautiful balance and sounds, and dramatically, being always involved and individual in personality. Antonio Pappano brings out every ounce of ecstatic power and sensuality that the music needs in his conducting.

You couldn't ask for better performances either. The title role of 'King Roger' has to be one of Mariusz Kwiecien's career triumphs, certainly one of my personal favourite performances of his. The music sits wonderfully in his very sonorous, burnished voice and here is some of the most vivid acting he's done. Georgia Jarman, despite not being quite as comfortable with the Polish as the rest of the cast, is a sensuous Roxanna with a beautiful voice. Her Act 2 aria is some of the most sensual of all 20th century music and Jarman personifies it in her acting and singing, never once holding back. Samir Pirgu is a delightful Shepherd, the most integral to the King of all the symbolic roles, and Kim Begley relishes every moment of his stage time.

All in all, a triumph for Royal Opera House. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is the first opera that I have seen under the auspices of the Opera Platform. This is a European group of opera houses that have got together to do something about the paucity of opera that is available today, both live and on television. They put recent films of European operas on the internet for all to see for free. This is very commendable and I am sure they are very proud of their achievement but I wish they had not put a huge Opera Platform logo on the screen. I needed copious amounts of insulating tape to mask it out.

This is a film of the recent production of Szymanowski's Krol Roger at the ROH. I learned that, in Polish, Roger is pronounced with a double d sound. So it's Roger the Dogger not Roger the Dodger. The opera is supposed to be set in 12th century Sicily although, in this production, director Kasper Holten follows the tedious modern practice of setting it in the period in which it was written eg the 1920s. The plot was fairly impenetrable to me. It appears to be about a king who is torn between Christianity and ancient religions. There is a shepherd who preaches the ancient ways but, in this production, he looks more like a pop singer. The queen and most of Roger's subjects go off with the shepherd. Roger agonises for a bit but finally seems to arrive at some sort of reconciliation between Christianity and the ancient ways. I have heard the suggestion that Roger's anguish reflects the way that Szymanowski was torn between his Christian faith and his homosexuality but I couldn't possible comment on that.

The first act is dominated by a giant head in the middle of the stage which does interfere with the action somewhat. In Act II the head revolves to reveal a scaffold on which scantily-clad men gyrate. Mercifully the opera is only 90 minutes long but it seems much longer that that. I could not detect anything worthwhile in the music although the three leads all acquitted themselves well: Mariusz Kwiecien as Roger, Georgia Jarman as his wife Roxana and Samir Pirgu as the Shepherd. I think that this is the first opera that I have heard in Polish. It seemed to me to have all the disadvantages of Russian as an operatic language with none of the compensating factors.

This production was very well reviewed and the ROH audience on the night were very enthusiastic so maybe it's just me who did not get it. Sometimes I think an opera is rubbish and I return to it 5 or 10 years later and realise that it is a masterpiece. Somehow, I do not think that this will happen with Krol Roger.

Król Roger is an opera with amazing music. This production does an impressive job of exploring its concepts - perhaps more psychologically than philosophically. It's a production well worth exploring - just be prepared to expand your horizons as to what opera can be and mean.