lo firgai – The Mask

for soprano and instrumental ensemble (2021)

The piece is a monodrame – adaptation of shortstory, The Mask, by Stanisław Lem. The narrator and the main character in the story is a girl giving account of her slow discovery of own identity and purpose. Nothing and no one is wht it seems, and at the same time all is governed by everlasting motives.

The libretto was machine-translated and is sung in the lojban language – a 20th century attempt to create the platform to communicate with machines, when its finally possible.

The piece was commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and written in 2020-21 on the occasion of Lem’s 100th birthday Anniversary.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:
PREMIERE: 07/30/2021; Agata Zubel, Klangforum Wien, Johannes Kalitzke; Odeon Theater; Impulstanz Festival; Vienna, Austria

09/19/2021; Agata Zubel, Klangforum Wien, Bas Wiegers; National Philharmony Chamber Hall; Warsaw Autumn Festival

10/2/2021; Joanna Freszel, Spółdzielnia Muzyczna; ICE KRAKÓW Theatre Hall; Sacrum-Profanum Festival