Time 19:00
The Royal Theatre in the Old Orangery in the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw
BUY TICKET
The concert inaugurating the 2nd Festival IN TEMPORE REGUM. Music in the Time of Kings will be filled with the works by the master of baroque music – Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1729, the famous cantor became the director of the renowned Collegium Musicum – the ensemble with which he performed a series of weekly concerts in the exclusive Gottfried Zimmermann café in Leipzig. The compositions performed during these hugely popular events included Bach’s outstanding orchestral suites. One of them – the Suite in C major BWV 1066, written for two oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo, opens the program of today’s concert.
In addition to the weekly Ordinaire Concerten, Collegium also presented “special” programs, most often on the occasion of important celebrations at the royal electoral court in Dresden. It was in these circumstances that the cantata Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen BWV 213 was created and had its premiere. Dedicated to the son of the future king of Poland, Augustus III, Prince Friedrich Christian, it was first performed on the Prince’s 11th birthday. The cantata has a rather unusual character, and there’s a reason why it was originally described as dramma per musica. The plot of the work based on the libretto entitled “Hercules auf dem Scheidewege” by Picander tells the story of Hercules, who, at the crossroads, meets two women – the personifications of Lust and Virtue. After listening to the disputes of these two allegorical figures, the young hero decides to follow Virtue – just as the young Prince himself, which is emphasized by Mercury descending from the heavens. The musical arrangement abounds in sophisticated musical images rich in expressive lyrical and musical rhetorics, some of which Bach reused in his Weichnachtsoratorium, composed soon afterwards.
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite in C major BWV 1066
Ouverture | Corante | Gavotte I/II | Forlane | Menuett I/II | Bourée I/II | Passepied I/II
Cantata Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen BWV 213
1. Chorus: Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen
2. Recitativo: Und wo? Wo is der rechte Bahn
3. Aria: Schalfe mein Liebster
4. Recitativo: Auf! Folge meiner Bahn
5. Aria: Treues Echo
6. Recitativo: Mein hoffnungsvoller Held!
7. Aria: Auf meinen Flügen sollst du schweben
8. Recitativo: Die weiche Wollust lockte zwar
9. Aria: Ich will dich nicht hören
10. Recitativo: Geliebte Tugend
11. Aria Duetto: Ich bin deine, Du bist meine
12. Recitativo accompagnato: Schaut, Götter
13. Chorus: Lust der Völker
PERFORMERS
SOPRANO (WOLLUST) MARTA BOBERSKA
ALTO (HERKULES) JAKUB FOLTAK
TENOR (TUGEND) JACEK SZPONARSKI
BASS (MERKUR) PAWEŁ MICHALCZUK
THE CHORUS OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA
THE PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ENSEMBLE OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA CAPELLA REGIA POLONA
KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA POSITIVE ORGAN, CONDUCTOR
Duration: approx. 1 h 10 min
The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.
We kindly encourage you to read the rules of participation in cultural events organized by the Polish Royal Opera:
- If you are not feeling well, are ill, or had contact with an infected person – stay at home.
- Please, take a face mask with you. On entering the Theatre building, you are obliged to wear a mask covering your mouth and nose.
- Disinfect your hands after entering the Theatre building.
- Take the seat assigned to you by the staff.
We care about the safety of our Guests!
- Disinfectants are available at the entrance to the building.
- The common spaces and sanitary rooms are disinfected regularly.
Should you have any questions, we are at your disposal on site of the event or at the phone number +48 500 309 424.
