Time and place: 18th century, in the Tatra mountains; the title character: highlander robber-band chieftain (tenor). The opera Janek, prepared in the concert version by the Kraków Philharmionic under the baton of Sebastian Perłowski, makes strong references to the esthetics of Italian verismo style. The Polish composer reached to it encouraged by the stunning success of two verismo highlights: Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (which provided a remote paradigm for Janek) and Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci. The opera premiered in 1900 at the Municipal Theatre in Lviv (it honoured the opening of a new building), therefore it’s symbolic that we will hear it in the interpretation of Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra.

Władysław Żeleński Janek (concert version)

Sławomir Naborczyk – tenor (Janek)
Magdalena Stefaniak – soprano (Bronka)
Viktor Yankovskyi – baritone (Stach)
Joanna Święszek – mezzo-soprano (Marynka)
Wojciech Tabiś – bass (Marek)
Galicia Chamber Choir
Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra
Sebastian Perłowski – conductor

Photo: Municipal Theatre in Lviv on a postcard from 1905