“The artists managed to captivate the audience and involve them in the performance so effectively that the children didn’t even realize they were attending a serious concert. Some of the listeners even made their debut on the ‘opera’ stage.”

Elbląska Gazeta Internetowa portEl.pl
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Listen to Opera Like a Fairy Tale:
Polish Radio Children – Parent Zone

Opera Like a Fairy Tale is an operatic collage – pasticcio. We drew on Italian tradition to create a brand-new work from existing fragments by great composers.

The performance, following the model of a “real” opera, consists of four acts.

There’s no shortage of the story of Cinderella and her wicked sisters; Hansel and Gretel will appear, for whom the witches from Witch Mountain will cook a delicious meal! You’ll find out what trouble the dragon Basil had and who became his friend, and finally, we’ll all dive in together to visit the three beautiful Water Nymphs.

We replaced the original texts with our own Polish lyrics, so that the arias, duets, and trios are understandable to everyone. The dialogues with children and those on stage are conducted as improvised recitatives (sung-spoken declamation) also in Polish!

In the program, we deliberately used excerpts from existing operas with fairy-tale themes. We drew on gems of musical literature, making the performance equally attractive to adults (especially connoisseurs of vocal art).

Repertoire:

1. N. Isouard – “Ah, My Sister!” (“Ah, quel plaisir!”) – duet of Cinderella’s ugly sisters from the opera “Cinderella” (1810)
2. J. Massenet – “Stay Here, My Little Cinderella” (“Reste au foyer, petit grillon”) – Cinderella’s aria from the opera “Cinderella” (1899)
3. G. Rossini – “Abandoned and Rejected” (“Sventurata mi credea”) – aria of the older sister, Clorinda, from the opera “Cinderella” (1817)
4. E. Humperdinck – “Hansel, Take Your Sister to Dance” (“Brüderchen, komm tanz’ mit mir”) – Hansel and Gretel’s duet from the opera “Hansel and Gretel” (1893)
5. H. Purcell – “We Will Cast a Spell” (“But Ere we This Perform”) – duet of witches from the opera “Dido and Aeneas” (1688)
6. A. Dvořák – “Ho, ho, ho!” – trio of Water Nymphs from the opera “Rusalka” (1901)
7. R. Wagner – “Ho-jo-to-ho! The Story of the Dragon Basil” (“Ho-jo-to-ho! Battle Cry of Brünnhilde”) – aria from the opera “The Valkyrie” (1865)
8. W. A. Mozart – “Here is Our Grand Finale!” (“Stirb, Ungeheur! durch unsre Macht!”) – trio of Ladies from the opera “The Magic Flute” (1791)

CAST:

Les Femmes:

Joanna Sobowiec – Jamioł – soprano
Natalia Krajewska – Kitowska – soprano
Emilia Osowska – mezzo-soprano

Łukasz Jankowski – piano

Piotr Jamioł Chamber Ensemble

Direction: Les Femmes
Set design: Les Femmes
Polish texts: Les Femmes

Duration: 50 min.