INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

Interview with Prof. Michał Dobrzyński*, composer, author of the opera “Hi§tory” based on the manuscripts of Witold Gombrowicz, commissioned by the Polish Royal Opera in Warsaw

 

The enthusiastically received ‘Hi§tory’ premiered last autumn in Warsaw; earlier, in the artistic season 2022-2023, the premiere of Kevin Puts’ ‘Hours’ at the Metropolitan Opera in New York was a great success. Is contemporary classical opera just emerging from a niche labelled ‘difficult’ thanks to young composers?

 

The hitherto unpublished manuscripts of Witold Gombrowicz, made available to me personally by Mrs Rita Gombrowicz, the writer’s widow, provided a particular creative motivation. Undoubtedly, they are in themselves a priceless national cultural asset. At the same time, they revealed themselves to the world – as Mrs Rita Gombrowicz decided, and I happily and humbly accepted this special honour – precisely through the opera ‘Hi§tory’. Can this fascinating and undoubtedly fractious force determine the success of the entire production and of contemporary opera? (…)

While working on [the world premiere of] “Hi§tory”, I had the good fortune and privilege to work with some of the most outstanding artists. The direction was undertaken by grandmaster Maciej Wojtyszko (…), [who] had previously (2017) directed my opera “Tango” based on Mrożek’s drama, and so our artistic collaboration began. (…) The vocal cast is at the highest artistic level. The main roles are created by singers of international renown, performing on the world’s most prestigious stages: countertenor Michał Sławecki, soprano Joanna Freszel, bass-baritone Robert Gierlach.

 

However, the most important fact remains that ‘Hi§tory’ would not have been created without Mrs Rita Gombrowicz, who, during my stay in Paris in 2024, generously and with great trust offered me an absolutely unique, unrepeatable opportunity to work with the never-before-published manuscripts of the unfinished drama ‘Historia (Operetta)’ by by Witold Gombrowicz. (…)

 

What does the paragraph in the title mean?

 

The idea came a few hours before when I first opened the Gombrowicz manuscripts made available to me by Ms Rita. Looking through them, I noticed that on one of the pages there was a clearly visible title of the drama traced by the author’s hand with wavy lines on the sides in the shape of a paragraph! Even Mrs Rita Gombrowicz did not hide her positive surprise at this intriguing graphic association, which, of course, particularly pleased me and further strengthened this idea! What does this paragraph mean? In the most direct sense, it refers to the small and big story in this drama. I mean the peculiar relationship between two parabolically interpenetrating worlds: the world of small history (Witold Gombrowicz’s family) and the great world of politics. The clarity of thought and the almost vivid legibility of Gombrowicz’s characters-symbols seem to correlate in some special way with the history that is also taking place today and before our eyes. (…)

 

Excerpts from “Hi§tory” were included on the album and were also performed at the prestigious contemporary music festival in Paris.

 

Albertine’s Aria, arranged for soprano and string quartet, was premiered on 22 April in Paris, at the international Neos festival. (The concert, at which Ms Rita Gombrowicz was present, had the honorary patronage of the Marshall of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship).   It is also featured on the latest album of [my] string quartets, released by the major German record label Neos. The performers are the NeoQuartet ensemble and the soprano Joanna Freszel, one of Poland’s most outstanding singers.

 

You are an academic teacher, and you also teach composition at the master classes at the Penderecki Music Centre in Lusławice. What is your reflection from this kind of experience?

 

Lusławice is a special place for me. After my studies at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where I currently have young composition students under my supervision as a professor, I qualified for the programme for the promotion of young composers, selected by Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki – the most outstanding Polish composers of the 20th and 21st century music.

 

The opportunity to work with the most outstanding artists of the youngest generation, excellent performers and ensembles, the possibility to share reflections and experiences, but also to get to know other personalities and artistic points of view, the possibility of an intergenerational exchange of experiences, are of inestimable value. This experience further encourages continuous autodidactics, the expansion of creative horizons. [Because] also in this discipline, the world constantly has something new to offer and requires constant revision of one’s own knowledge and skills, improvement of the creative workshop.

 

It is with great satisfaction that I would like to add that Bydgoszcz – as a centre that educates, among others, phenomenal pianists such as Rafał Blechacz – attracts young artists at the highest artistic level, as evidenced by the laurels at many important competitions or, precisely, by the presence of our Academy of Music in Lusławice. This is why I am delighted that, together with my excellent students, we can contribute to the growth and consolidation of the significance of our Alma Mater also in the field of composition – musical creation being, in fact, the core and sensu stricto starting point of all musical arts.

 

19 May 2025

 

* Michał Dobrzyński, Polish composer, professor of composition at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. He belongs to the young generation of artists selected by Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki for the prestigious programme “Young Composers in Tribute to Frederic Chopin”. Dobrzyński’s works are in the repertoire of eminent soloists, conductors and renowned ensembles, and have been performed in Poland, as well as in the USA, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Moldova, South Korea, Malta, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, China, Cyprus and Macedonia. Michał Dobrzyński is the winner of many composition competitions. Operas hold a special place in the composer’s oeuvre. In recent years, they have been performed more than 30 times at many opera houses, including the Estonian National Opera, the Muth Theatre in Vienna, Vilnius, the Warsaw Chamber Opera, the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, the Cracow Opera, the Polish Royal Opera. Audiences rewarded them with standing ovations. They were also appreciated by critics. For his opera ‘Tango’ (based on Mrożek), he was awarded the ‘Opera Shining of the Year 2017’. Last year’s premiere of “Hi§tory” at the Polish Royal Opera House was a great success. His earlier opera, “Operetka” (also based on Gombrowicz’s drama), was broadcast from Vienna to the whole world by the prestigious TV station ARTE.