God help me! I suffer!… I love Antek….but he can help me not!… Master Jan is rich… and will make my Mother content. – Only one of these wishes I can choose… either to please Mother, or to please me… Oh! Antek, my beloved! What would our parting be? Could I ever part from you?… But all in vain… my mother in misery, we must seek help for her…
– this is Kasia’s dilemma. Kasia is the main character of a two-act opera by Maciej Kamieński, with libretto by Wojciech Bogusławski, based on Franciszek Bohomolec’s comedy.
Misery Contented was commissioned in 1778 by king Stanisław II August Poniatowski. The king was such a great patron of the arts that even the Stanisławowski Theatre (named after him) has a plafond painting of Apollo by Jan Bogumił Plersch, which bears a very close resemblance to the king’s face.
This opera production, prepared by the Polish Royal Opera and directed by Jarosław Kilian, is a symbolic tribute to the king in recognition of his generosity, for Poniatowski contributed both to the creation of this opera – the first surviving opera written in the Polish language – and to the creation of a theatre in the building of the Old Orangery at the Royal Łazienki Park.
MUSIC DIRECTION TADEUSZ KAROLAK
PRODUCTION, DIRECTOR JAROSŁAW KILIAN
COSTUME DESIGNER, SCENOGRAPHY IZABELA CHEŁKOWSKA
SET DESIGN – IN COLLABORATION WITH CEZARY ŻEGLIŃSKI
COSTUMES –IN COLLABORATION WITH MARYLA NAWOTKA
CHOREOGRAPHY IWONA RUNOWSKA
LIGHTING DESIGN PIOTR NIEMYJSKI
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SŁAWOMIR JURCZAK
STAGE MANAGER TATIANA HEMPEL-GIERLACH
CAST
ANNA JUSTYNA STĘPIEŃ
KASIA AGNIESZKA KOZŁOWSKA
ANTEK MATEUSZ ZAJDEL
JAN PIOTR KĘDZIORA
PODSTAROŚCI WITOLD ŻOŁĄDKIEWICZ
MACIEJ KAMIEŃSKI SŁAWOMIR JURCZAK
THE ORCHESTRA OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA
CONDUCTOR TADEUSZ KAROLAK
Duration: 1 h 15 min (no intermission)
The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.
The media patron of the 5th Festival of the Polish Royal Opera is 
