King Roger

This article is about an opera. For the King of Sicily, see Roger II of Sicily.
King Roger
Król Roger
Opera by Karol Szymanowski
King Roger II of Sicily, from Liber ad honorem Augusti, 1196
LibrettistKarol Szymanowski
Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz
LanguagePolish
Premiere
19 June 1926 (1926-06-19)
Grand Theatre, Warsaw

King Roger (Polish: Król Roger, Op. 46) is an opera in three acts by Karol Szymanowski to a Polish libretto by the composer himself and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, the composer's cousin. The score was finished in 1924. The opera received its world premiere on 19 June 1926 at the Grand Theatre, Warsaw, with the cast including the composer's sister, the soprano Stanisława Korwin-Szymanowska, as Roxana.

The "Sicilian drama", as he called it,[1] originated from Szymanowski's enthusiasm for Mediterranean culture as a melting pot of different peoples and religions. He spent much time travelling in that area in 1911 and in 1914, and shared his love of the region with Iwaszkiewicz. In the summer of 1918 at Odessa, Szymanowski and Iwaszkiewicz conceived the project, and composed the opera over the period of 1918 to 1924. Szymanowski's lost novel Efebos dealt with mystical themes similar to those that inspired this work;[2] Szymanowski labelled it a "Misterium".[1]

Jim Samson has placed King Roger in a musico-psychological analysis of Szymanowski's compositional struggles.[3] Alistair Wightman has briefly discussed Szymanowski's stylised treatment of Arabic musical idioms in the score.[4] Stephen Downes has analysed in detail the themes of "duality" and "transformation" expressed in the music of the opera.[5]

  1. ^ a b King Roger, Op. 46 (1918–1924), karolszymanowski.pl
  2. ^ Stephen C Downes, "Narcissus, the Siren and Dionysus: Calls of Seduction in King Roger", Szymanowski, Eroticism and the Voices of Mythology, Royal Musical Association (2003), p. 54 ISBN 0-947854-10-X
  3. ^ Samson, Jim (1979–1980). "Szymanowski: An Interior Landscape". Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association. 106: 69–76. doi:10.1093/jrma/106.1.69. JSTOR 765927.
  4. ^ Wightman, Alastair (March 1987). "Szymanowski and Islam". The Musical Times. 128 (1729): 129–132. doi:10.2307/964492. JSTOR 765927.
  5. ^ Wightman, Alastair (July–October 1995). "Themes of Duality and Transformation in Szymanowski's King Roger". Music Analysis. 14 (2/3): 257–291. doi:10.2307/854015. JSTOR 854015.