Kwiecien/Roh Orch/Pappano - Szymanowski:Krol Roger

Kasper Holten's production (The Royal Opera's first) of Kr�l Roger (King Roger) brought the opera back to the London stage after an absence of almost 40 years. Karol Szymanowski's masterpiece powerfully presents the dilemmas of culture versus nature and man versus beast, and movingly depicts King Roger's inner struggles as he moves from an impossible life of repressed desires to the other extreme, giving in to his own demons. Meanwhile Roger's people, seduced by the promises of the mysterious Shepherd, are drawn towards totalitarianism and repression. Antonio Pappano conducts Szymanowski's opulent and beautiful score, with a cast including Mariusz Kwiecien as Roger (one of the greatest interpreters of the role today), Saimir Pirgu as the Shepherd, and Georgia Jarman in her Royal Opera debut as Roger's loving queen Roxana.