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Siren. Melodrama aeterna by Aleksander Nowak and Szczepan Twardoch Available from ANAKLASIS

Nov. 01, 2021

Opera creators, Aleksander Nowak and Szczepan Twardoch, have captivated audiences and received numerous awards for their works, which have also enjoyed wide release on CD and LP. Their collaboration, Drach. Dramma per musica inaugurated the OPERA series from ANAKLASIS, PWM Edition's record label. In the same series, ANAKLASIS presents their second joint project, Siren. Melodrama aeterna, available on disc. It will be premiered on November 5 during the AUKSODRONE festival in Tychy.

Drach. Dramma per musica, Aleksander Nowak and Szczepan Twardoch’s debut at the festival in Tychy, met with a particularly enthusiastic critical acclaim. The project garnered numerous excellent reviews, won the O!Lśnienia 2021 online poll (in the category of "Classical Music and Jazz"), and the world premiere of Drach received the Coryphaeus of Polish Music Award as "Event of the Year." The CD and LP releases from ANAKLASIS provided the work and its authors with more visibility, while the inaugural album in the OPERA series, featuring this music drama, was nominated for one of the Polish music industry’s most important prizes, the Fryderyk Award.


(Drach. Dramma per musica - Rozdział pierwszy by Aleksander Nowak and Szczepan Twardoch/
Joanna Freszel, Jan Jakub Monowid, Sebastian Szumski, Marcin Świątkiewicz/
AUKSO Orkiestra Kameralna Miasta Tychy/Marek Mos, conductor) 

 

The release of Drach has now been followed by Siren. Melodrama aeterna, with Szczepan Twardoch’s original libretto and music by Aleksander Nowak, featuring singers Ewa Biegas, Joanna Freszel, and Jan Jakub Monowid, who have collaborated with the composer on earlier projects. The solo instrumentalists include virtuoso saxophone player Bartłomiej Duś, Daniel Popiałkiewicz on the electric guitar, and pianist Piotr Sałajczyk, performing here with AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy under Maestro Marek Moś.


 

"It was clear from the start that this project would be something new, not based on an existing story. Quite soon, we started considering the subject of the sea." This is how Aleksander Nowak recalls the beginnings of their joint work on Siren. “It is, after Drach, our second chamber music drama, without the need for staging and sets, but rather with its own internal dramaturgy."
 

What is Siren like according to those who have heard it? "The music of Siren is ethereal and light like mist, flowing like water, and, most of all, lyrical and song-like in concept," wrote Magdalena Stochniol in Ruch Muzyczny after the premiere. Jan Topolski commented in Dwutygodnik: "There is little silence and keeping silent […] in Nowak, but much singing: frequently in extreme registers and with great agitation. The opening episodes are made up of two extensive dialogues. Puer (countertenor, Jan Jakub Monowid) tells us about his struggle with adversities, starting on a shy and simple note, which collides with the Siren’s (mezzo-soprano, Ewa Biegas) low-register response, leading to a culmination with elemental wildness. The sea roars, howls, bellows, and hisses in a cluster-based staccato." Dorota Szwarcman recommends the work with a brief but effective note: "One simply needs to hear this."
 

Visit the ANAKLASIS website to learn more: www.anaklasis.pl


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