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World Premiere of Alek Nowak’s Opera, The Monster’s Voice

May. 29, 2025

The Monster’s Voice is the work of internationally acclaimed director Agnieszka Smoczyńska (The Silent Twins, Fugue, The Lure), respected screenwriter Robert Bolesto (The Last Family, A Heart of Love, The Lure), and outstanding contemporary music composer Alek Nowak (I, Şeküre, A Fairy Tale About the Snake’s Heart), whose music is published by PWM Edition. The Monster’s Voice is inspired by Europa Europa by Sally Perel and polish film director Agnieszka Holland.

The opera draws inspiration from Agnieszka Holland’s film Europa Europa and the dramatic biography of Solomon Perel – a Jewish boy who, during WWII, had to hide his identity in order to survive, even while living within the Hitler Youth. The creators translate this story into a mythological realm – inhabited by Medusas, Erinyes, and Hades – building an allegory of contemporary experiences of exclusion, concealment, and the desperate will to live.

The Monster’s Voice is about a person who, under the threat of death, can never reveal the truth about themselves. They must hide or disguise themselves, pretend to be someone else, constantly observe everything and everyone, and trust no one. Eventually, at the cost of their life, they become “nobody”. The truth about the titular character is revealed primarily through their voice – high and pure. For most of the time, it must remain suppressed, avoiding natural, upper registers. Only a few times, at moments of particular significance, does it resound fully. The harmony leans toward twelve-tone technique. The orchestration and instrumentation reflect a modernist retreat from Wagnerian monumentalism toward chamber music – explains composer Alek Nowak.

The opera’s visual world was created by set designer Jagna Dobesz – recipient of the European Film Award for The Girl with the Needle by Magnus von Horn – and lighting designer Aleksandr Prowaliński. Costumes for the performance are designed by Katarzyna Lewińska, known f.ex. for her work with Agnieszka Holland on In Darkness and Spoor, as well as Afterimage by Andrzej Wajda. Choreography is by Tomasz Wygoda, and the title role will be sung by countertenor Jan Jakub Monowid, with the orchestra conducted by Yaroslav Shemet, music director of the Baltic Opera.

"Alek Nowak’s score is deeply moving and brilliantly orchestrated – rich in color, tension, and contrast, and at the same time very emotional. This will be a significant moment, also for us in Gdańsk," emphasises Yaroslav Shemet, who has previously premiered other works by Nowak, but is working on one of his operas for the first time.

The world premiere of The Monster’s Voice will take place on June 27 and 28 at Aula Artis in Poznań. After the premiere in Poznań at the Malta Festival, the performance will be shown by the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk as part of the Baltic Opera Festival (July 12), and in the autumn, it will be presented to audiences at the Eufonie Festival in Warsaw.

The opera is produced by the Malta Festival, the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, and the Polish National Centre for Culture. The performance is being developed as part of the cultural program of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

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

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