The autumn instalment of Opera Rara Kraków, held to mark World Opera Day, reminds us that opera has never been a genre with a single, fixed definition. From the very beginning, it has combined poetic text, acting, and visual image; its history has unfolded not only on the stages of grand theaters but also in salons, churches, and spaces that allowed it to be experienced from fresh perspectives. The festival’s autumn program reflects this diversity, ranging from intimate song recitals to monumental Baroque and Romantic forms, demonstrating that the history of opera is, above all, a story of the ceaseless quest for new modes of expression.

At the heart of the programme lies a series of ten vocal-lyric events titled Fight for the Song (Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery, 7.10–13.12). Spanning works from Schubert’s Winterreise to songs by Schumann, Brahms, Mahler, Strauss, Debussy, Messiaen, and Szymanowski, these pieces prove that the most intimate form of musical expression can convey an emotional intensity rivaling that of opera.

We will also celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the legendary Scenario for a Non-existent but Possible Instrumental Actor—a performance that has left an indelible mark on the history of Polish theater, featuring the work of Bogusław Schaeffer (a brilliant playwright and composer) and the performance of Jan Peszek (Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery, 3, 4.10).

We will also revisit Monteverdi. A Bar.oque Feast (Milk Bar Żaczek, 5, 6 and 8,9.10), staged by Cezary Tomaszewski, transports madrigals from concert halls to the communal setting of a milk bar; after all, it is worth remembering that this music was originally intended for performance in very direct contact with the audience.

We will celebrate World Opera Day with a performance of Robert Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri (Łaźnia Nowa Theatre, 25.10), featuring Capella Cracoviensis under the baton of Jan Tomasz Adamus, with Anna Prohaska in the title role and an international cast of soloists. Meanwhile, Arnold Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (Wesoła Immersive, 29, 30.10) interpreted by Tabea Mitterbauer and Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble will reveal the moment when musical theatre entered an entirely new realm of expression.

The festival’s autumn edition will culminate in a truly special work: Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo, Emilio de’ Cavalieri’s opera sacra (Gllery of the 19th Century Polish Art, 7.12), performed by L’Arpeggiata, the Capella Cracoviensis vocal ensemble, and Christina Pluhar. Thus, the program’s finale leads back to the very roots of opera, concluding the autumn installment of Opera Rara with a work that heralded the birth of the genre itself.

3, 4 October 2026, 6pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Bogusław Schaeffer: Scenario for a Non-existent but Possible Instrumental Actor
Jan Peszek

5, 6, 8, 9 October 2026, 6pm
Żaczek Milk Bar, ul. Czarnowiejska 75
A Bar.oque Feast
Claudio Monteverdi: Madrigals
Cezary Tomaszewski staging
Capella Cracoviensis
Antonina Ruda soprano
Artur Plinta, Ilona Szczepańska alto
Bartosz Gorzkowski Szczepan Kosior tenor
Jakub Borgiel bass

7 October 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Franz Schubert: Winterreise
Bartosz Gorzkowski tenor
Aleksander Mocek pianoforte

14 October 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Robert Schumann: Liederkreis
Karolina Augustyn soprano
Eliza Pawłowska pianoforte

21 October 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Johannes Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge
Hugo Wolf: Eichendorff-Lieder
Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder
Jakub Borgiel baritone
Wioletta Fluda-Tkaczyk piano

25 October 2026, 6pm
Łaźnia Nowa Theatre
Franz Schubert: Nachtgesang im Walde
Robert Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri / concert version
Peri: Anna Prohaska
Narrator: Laurence Kilsby
Virgin: Joanna Zaucha soprano parts
Angel: Monika Korybalska alto parts
Man: Bartosz Gorzkowski tenor parts
Young Man, Gazna: Sebastian Szumski baritone parts
Jan Tomasz Adamus conductor
Capella Cracoviensis period instruments orchestra and choir

28 October 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe
Jędrzej Suska baritone
Eliza Pawłowska pianoforte

29, 30 October 2026, 7pm
Wesoła Immersive
Arnold Schönberg: Pierrot Lunaire
Tabea Mitterbauer soprano
Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble

8 November 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Olivier Messiaen: Harawi
Dorota Nowak soprano
Martyna Zakrzewska piano

15 November 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Richard Strauss:
–Sechs Lieder, Op. 17
–Morgen, Op. 27 No. 4
Antonina Ruda soprano
Wioletta Fluda-Tkaczyk piano

22 November 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Claude Debussy: Proses Lyriques
Gustav Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Marion Grange soprano

29 November 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Karol Szymanowski:
–Pieśni księżniczki z baśni, Op. 31
–Kurpian Songs, Op. 58
Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha soprano
Wioletta Fluda-Tkaczyk piano

6 December 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Franz Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin
Piotr Olech alto
Marek Toporowski pianoforte

7 December 2026, 6pm
Galerry of the 19th-century Polish Art in Sukiennice
Emilio de’ Cavalieri: Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo
Christina Pluhar conductor
L’Arpeggiata
Capella Cracoviensis vocal ensemble

13 December 2026, 5pm
Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery
Fight for the Song
Gerald Finzi: Ditty (A Young Man’s Exhortation)
John Ireland: If There Were Dreams to Sell
Gerald Finzi: Life Laughs Onwards
Jonathan Dove: Song IV (Out of Winter)
Hubert Parry: My heart is like a singing bird
Peter Warlock: Sleep
Roger Quilter: Autumn Evening
Ivor Gurney: Sleep (Five Elizabethan Songs)
Will Harmer: Wild nights
Roger Quilter: Now sleeps the crimson petal
Henry Purcell: If music be the food of love
Benjamin Britten: The Ash Grove (Welsh song)
Benjamin Britten: The last rose of summer (Irish song)
Benjamin Britten: The Salley Gardens (Irish song)
Muriel Herbert: Tewkesbury Road
Muriel Herbert: The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Ar hyd y nos (Wels song, arr by Sebastian Hill)
Peter Warlock: My Own Country
Sebastian Hill tenor
Will Harmer piano