Orchestras & Opera Houses
Warsaw Chamber Opera
The Opera was founded in 1961. The first stage premiere of this group was G.B. Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, performed on 4 September 1961. The repertoire of the Warszawska Opera Kameralna is characterized by a great variety of musical styles and forms of presented works; from medieval mystery plays, through operas of the early and late Baroque, classical operas, operas by Rossini and Donize
The Opera was founded in 1961. The first stage premiere of this group was G.B. Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, performed on 4 September 1961. The repertoire of the Warszawska Opera Kameralna is characterized by a great variety of musical styles and forms of presented works; from medieval mystery plays, through operas of the early and late Baroque, classical operas, operas by Rossini and Donizetti, to contemporary stage works, several of which were commissioned by the Warszawska Opera Kameralna. The Opera’s artists also perform chamber, oratorio, and symphonic music of various eras.
Since 15 October 1986, the Warszawska Opera Kameralna has been performing at its own theatre located at al. Solidarności 76b, in a historic building dating back to 1775. The Opera house, with its intimate interior and excellent acoustics, is listed in the register of Warsaw’s historical monuments. The second stage, Basen Artystyczny of the Warszawska Opera Kameralna, opened in January 2019. Due to its historical function, this casual space enables us to execute original performances with surprising scenic design.
To the present day, the Warszawska Opera Kameralna has been organizing many festivals, including the Mozart Festival, Baroque Opera Festival, Claudio Monteverdi Festival, Gioacchino Rossini Festival, and the Polish Contemporary Opera Festival. From 2000 to 2001, the Opera organized a celebration of the 400th anniversary of opera as a genre. Fifty-seven stage works from various eras (including seven premieres) were performed at this “festival of festivals” ranging from the first opera ever preserved in its entirety, Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, to contemporary operas written for the Warszawska Opera Kameralna.
The Warszawska Opera Kameralna flagship artistic endeavour is the Mozart Festival, which has been taking place for 32 years. It was first organized in 1991 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Viennese composer’s death. Since its inception, the Festival has been the only event in Europe featuring the entire body of work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed by an artistic group of a single opera theatre. The composer’s operas are presented each year, as well as his oratorios, symphonies, instrumental concertos, and chamber pieces. Performances and concerts are held every year in May, June, and July at the Warszawska Opera Kameralna Theatre and other historic venues in the capital.
The Warszawska Opera Kameralna large-scale foreign activities emphasize the quality of its brand. The group has regularly performed outside Poland nearly from its inception. It has staged a complete set of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, almost a complete set in the Netherlands, and periodically presented its repertoire on the stages of France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, Israel, Portugal, Slovenia, and Croatia. The Warszawska Opera Kameralna has toured Japan 7 times, staging works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (more than 150 performances in total) and Gioacchino Rossini on the country’s most renowned stages. It has performed regularly in Lebanon (Al Bustan Festival) and Oman (Muscat Music Festival). The Warszawska Opera Kameralna group has staged classical, romantic, and contemporary operas, as well as works of Baroque and Renaissance.