VENUS AND ADONIS / JOHN BLOW

John Blow subtitled Venus and Adonis – his only dramatic work – A Masque for the entertainment of the King. However, the piece goes beyond the confines of a typical court masque – it does not contain spoken dialogues, fulfilling the genre requirements of an opera. The composition is a brilliant synthesis of the achievements of Italian and French music of the time while still maintaining – in accordance with the English tradition – the important role of choruses and instrumental parts. It is not surprising, therefore, that this work became an important inspiration for Henry Purcell’s brilliant opera Dido and Aeneas.

The French-style overture introduces listeners to the magical world of Ovid’s love story of a goddess and a mortal, where the pastoral landscape is full of mysteries and supernatural events. However, the atmosphere of delightful joy quickly evaporates when Adonis succumbs to the persuasions of the beautiful Venus and takes part in the hunt. Wounded by a wild animal, he dies in the arms of his beloved. The lovers’ last dialogue, Venus’s lament, and the chorus that crowns the entire piece using seemingly simple musical means convey in an extremely moving way the very essence of pain, the sense of loss, and the longing for bygone happiness.

MUSIC DIRECTION KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA
DIRECTOR PIA PARTUM
SET DESIGN KAROLINA FANDREJEWSKA STUDIO
COSTUMES EMIL WYSOCKI
CHOREOGRAPHY CONSULTANT EMIL WESOŁOWSKI
LIGHTING DESIGN, VIDEO PROJECTIONS KAROLINA FANDREJEWSKA, PIA PARTUM
CHORUS MASTER KAROL KNAPIŃSKI
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS SŁAWOMIR JURCZAK, AGNIESZKA KOZŁOWSKA
STAGE MANAGER WANDA KARPIŃSKA

CAST

VENUS ANNA RADZIEJEWSKA

ADONIS ADAM DOBEK

CUPID JAN JAKUB MONOWID

LITTLE CUPIDS IWONA LUBOWICZ, JULITA MIROSŁAWSKA

HUNTSMAN SYLWESTER SMULCZYŃSKI

SHEPHERDS, SHEPHERDESSES, HUNTSMEN, GRACES THE CHORUS OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA

THE PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ENSEMBLE OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA CAPELLA REGIA POLONA

CONDUCTOR KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA

The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.