Kaspar Holten’s production of Szymanowski’s King Roger: A test of ‘fidelity’

Kaspar Holten’s production of Szymanowski’s King Roger (completed in 1924) is an important realization of this complex and challenging opera. It was premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2015; a DVD recording of the London performances makes a detailed study of the production possible. This article is concerned with the issue of what constitutes fidelity in a director’s approach. It begins by discussing Szymanowski’s mise en scène, and outlines the main themes of King Roger and its relationship to Euripides’ Bacchae; then it engages with Holten’s interpretation, and the fascinating designs by Steffen Aarfing, which enable his vision to be realized. The lead characters – Roger and his Queen, Roxana – are both discussed with reference to how Holten illuminates Szymanowski’s drama and its music. His production raises fundamental questions about fidelity and innovation which have dominated critical discussion of many modernist and post-modernist productions not just of opera, but of ‘classics’ of the spoken theatre as well; these questions are posed in particular by Holten’s decision that Roxana should remain with Roger until the end of the opera, in violation of Szymanowski’s scenario.