Solaris

Karol Nepelski · scenario and libretto by Waldemar Raźniak after Stanisław Lem

A new opera written and staged inside Poland's national synchrotron: the accelerator hall of the SOLARIS centre at the Jagiellonian University became the set, and Lem's ocean was built from AI-assisted computer-generated singing, live electronics, video and light, against a live instrumental ensemble. Performed by actors of the National Stary Theatre with the musicians of Hashtag Ensemble.

About the production

Solaris was written for a building that is not a theatre. The premiere played inside the SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Centre at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, with the accelerator hall as the set; a year later the production returned in the post-industrial interiors of Łaźnia Nowa.

Raźniak wrote the scenario and the libretto after Lem's novel. Karol Nepelski's score is carried by an instrumental ensemble, live electronics and computer-generated singing produced with AI, against actors of the National Stary Theatre whose speech is treated as part of the same sound world rather than set against it.

Premiere: 1 February 2024
Venue: SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Centre, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Revival: February 2025, Łaźnia Nowa, Kraków
Co-production: Opera Rara Festival and the Helena Modrzejewska National Stary Theatre

Creative team

Music: Karol Nepelski
Libretto: Waldemar Raźniak, after the novel by Stanisław Lem
Direction: Waldemar Raźniak
Music direction: Lilianna Krych
Set & costumes: Barbara Guzik
Light: Ada Bystrzycka
Sound: Marek Suberlak
Video: Tadeusz Pyrczak
Choreography: Piotr Wach
Cast: Roman Gancarczyk, Krzysztof Globisz, Adam Nawojczyk, Karolina Staniec, Krzysztof Zawadzki; Hashtag Ensemble with Piotr Madej (live electronics)