I, Şeküre

for soloists, choir and baroque orchestra (2022)

"I, Şeküre" is based on the themes of "My Name is Red," the most famous novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk. It paints a broad panorama of life in sixteenth-century Istanbul. There, a group of the finest artists is tasked by the sultan to create a book commemorating his greatness, styled in modern European fashion and adorned with painterly miniatures. However, the Muslim religion opposes figurative art and strictly prohibits it. The creators thus find themselves in a particularly delicate position. Their work must be conducted in secrecy. Despite precautions, one of the employed masters is murdered. This is Enişte, the father of the titular Şeküre, who in the operatic version by Aleksander Nowak (author of both the music and the libretto), becomes the main character of the story. The opera's text is interwoven with quotes from Persian love poetry (Sahabi, Azraki from Herat, Onsuri from Balkh, Jami, Azar, and Abu Ali Ibn Sina) and an old Polish song about death, the 15th-century "Lament of the Dying."

The composition was created in 2022, commissioned by the Opera Rara Festival and the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

PREMIERE: February 9-10-11, 2024; Şeküre – Aleksandra Żakiewicz soprano, Meddah – Jan Jakub Monowid counter-tenor, Kara – Bartosz Gorzkowski tenor, Illustrator I – Sebastian Szumski baritone, Illustrator II – Jacek Wróbel baritone, Enişte – Maciej Straburzyński bass SPÓŁDZIELNIA MUZYCZNA CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE & CAPELLA CRACOVIENSIS, Polish Radio Choir; Maciej Tomasiewicz - conductor; Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow; Opera Rara Festival

September 9, 2024; Şeküre – Aleksandra Żakiewicz soprano, Meddah – Jan Jakub Monowid counter-tenor, Kara – Bartosz Gorzkowski tenor, Illustrator I – Sebastian Szumski baritone, Illustrator II – Jacek Wróbel baritone, Enişte – Maciej Straburzyński bass SPÓŁDZIELNIA MUZYCZNA CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE & CAPELLA CRACOVIENSIS, Polish Radio Choir; Maciej Tomasiewicz - conductor; Stanisław Moniuszko Grand Theater in Poznań, Malta Festival