Monster's voice is a work by the outstanding contemporary composer Alek Nowak, the acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Robert Bolesto, and the director Agnieszka Smoczyńska, who has won awards in Poland and around the world. The work was inspired by a character from the film *Europa Europa*, directed by Agnieszka Holland, and the true story of Salomon Perel, a Jew who went into hiding during World War II by joining the ranks of the Hitler Youth. In this original adaptation, we are transported to the world of Greek mythology to view the phenomenon of war from a distance and observe its timeless archetypes.
Librettist Robert Bolesto says that the production depicts the process of creating a contemporary art exhibition titled “The Destruction of Medusa.” The opera’s protagonist is the Curator, for whom the exhibits and accompanying events become a vehicle to ancient times. The main character identifies with Medusa and embarks on an inner journey through her tragic history. He experiences the price of renouncing one’s own identity—a price Medusa pays for survival.
Composer Alek Nowak, speaking about the opera *The Voice of the Monster*, emphasizes that it is about a person who, under threat of death, can never reveal the truth about himself. He must hide or disguise himself. Pretend to be someone else. Constantly observe everything and everyone, trusting no one. In the end, at the cost of his life, he becomes “nobody.” The truth about the title character is revealed above all in his voice—high and clear. Most of the time, he must keep it suppressed, avoiding his natural, highest registers. Only a few times, in moments of particular significance, does it resound in full. The harmonica draws on the twelve-tone system. The orchestration, including the instrumental lineup, reflects the modernist shift away from Wagnerian monumentality toward chamber music.
The director of the production, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, reveals that we are transposing a contemporary story into the world of myths in order to reach the sources of fear, hatred, and love, seeking within them a timeless truth about humanity. The creators are committed to a clash between the form of opera and realism. The production draws on a documentary record of the creation of a museum exhibition that tells the story of the annihilation of the “other,” the “stranger,” and the “unknown” by turning them into monsters and then executing them. The performance refers to a documentary record of the creation of a museum exhibition that tells the story of the extermination of the “other,” the “stranger,” and the “unknown” by turning them into monsters and then executing them.
The following individuals are responsible for the production’s visual world: set designer Jagna Dobesz—who received the European Film Award and the Eagle Award for *The Girl with the Needle* by Magnus von Horn—and Aleksandr Prowaliński (lighting), who most recently served as lighting director at the Wrocław Opera for the premiere of Bohuslav Martinů’s *Julietta* and who has collaborated in recent years with Krystian Lada, Ewelina Marciniak, and Jakub Skrzywanek. The costumes for the production were designed by Katarzyna Lewińska, known for her collaboration with Agnieszka Holland on the films “In Darkness” and “Pokot,” as well as for Andrzej Wajda’s “Afterimage,” Małgorzata Szumowska’s “Body/Ciało,” and the TV series “1670.” The choreography was created by Tomasz Jan Wygoda. The title role is sung by countertenor Jan Jakub Monowid.
Warning! The performance features smoke and strobe lighting.
Production: Malta Festival, Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, National Center for Culture
An opera inspired by Samuel Perel’s memoirs as described in the book *Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon* ©1992 by Sally Perel, Israel / Autorenagentur lansk mehr ©2021 by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, part of the Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe GmbH
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