The Black Mask / Semi-stage opera - NOSPR

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Krzysztof Penderecki's Black Mask seems to be more relevant today than ever before. The coronavirus pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian war, massive migrations, and the blending of cultures have become a hallmark of the restless times in contemporary Europe. We find a similar backdrop in the third opera by the composer from Dębica, but there is something else that strikes us: aesthetic ecumenism. While it is dominated by Expressionism from the first quarter of the 20th century (the time when Hauptmann's play was written), it also resonates with many other traditions. Local and European, contemporary and ancient. On stage, the instrumental ensemble accompanies the feast by playing music based on 17th-century Silesian lute tablatures. Quotes from Bach's chorales and medieval sequences resound, and in the final aria of the hostess Benigna, echoes of sonorism and avant-garde can be heard. Meanwhile, in the role of Löwel Perl, who arrives in Bolkow directly from Amsterdam, we can hear scales typical of traditional Jewish music.

Penderecki, a world-renowned composer, is also a composer from a small Galician town. In Dębica, as in Bolkow, various traditions intersected, with Hasidism being dominant. In Julian Stryjkowski's novel, the composer was fascinated by the dramatic simultaneity and multilayeredness that drive the Black Mask. Penderecki's ecumenism extends not only to Jewish tradition but also to the Orthodox tradition. After summarizing the achievements of the avant-garde and the tradition he embarked on in the Western spirit of the Passion according to St. Luke, he presented an Eastern perspective in Matins. This is a continuation in terms of both the time of the action (as it deals with the resurrection) and the intention to synthesize perspectives. In this extraordinary oratorio, Krzysztof Penderecki was inspired by the church singing from Russia and Bulgaria, as well as the sound of the Orthodox liturgy.

Jan Topolski

Concert duration: approximately 100 minutes