European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

Aleksander Nowak's Opera, I, Şeküre Premieres at the Opera Rara Festival in Poland

Jan. 26, 2024

Aleksander Nowak wrote I, Şeküre on commission from the Malta Festival Poznań. In June 2023, the libretto was presented in Poznań and fragments of the work were performed. The opera will be performed in full next month at the Opera Rara Festival in Kraków, Poland. 

The text of the libretto, written by composer himself, is based on the novel My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk, it is also intertwined with quotes from Persian love poetry (Sahabi, Azraki from Herat, Onsuri from Balkh, Dżami, Azar and Abu Ali Ibn Sina), and the text of a traditional Old Polish song about death (15th-century Complaint of the Dying - Płock transmission). Aleksander Nowak explains the plot:

"The core of the story is the fate of a young woman, Şeküre, who lives with her two sons in her father's house, and loses hope for her husband's return from war. Fearing for her own and her childrens' future, Şeküre wants to remarry, which is complicated in her situation – she is not technically a widow – so her hands are tied until the situation is clarified. 

The libretto is a mosaic / constellation of scenes and tales that gradually form the story of a young woman trying to find her own way and make a life for herself in a highly conventionalized world. The story is multi-threaded and ambiguous; it emerges from dialogues, monologues, and anecdotes about princesses, their admirers and adventures on the way to happiness."

The production includes a cast of six soloists performing alongside the Spółdzielnia Muzyczna contemporary ensemble, Capella Cracoviensis, and the Polish Radio Choir, under the baton of Maciej Tomasiewicz.

To learn more about Aleksander Nowak, visit pwm.com.pl.

Aleksander Nowak
I, Şeküre (2023)
opera for solo voices, mixed choir, and orchestra
libretto by the composer based on the novel My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk, 
Persian love poetry, and a traditional Polish song
solo: S.CT.T.2Bar.B-DescRec.ARec.TRec.BRec-0.0.0.0-crt.0.0.3.0-2perc-org-theorbo cimbalom-6vn.5vladG.3cb
100'

News