Nici
One day Trurl the constructor put together a machine that could create anything starting with n.
When it was ready, he tried it out, ordering it to make needles, then nankeens and negligees, which it did,
then nail the lot to narghiles filled with nepenthe and numerous other narcotics. The machine carried out his
instructions to the letter. Still not completely sure of its ability, he had it produce, one after the other,
nimbuses, noodles, nuclei, neutrons, naphtha, noses, nymphs, naiads, and natrium. This last it could not do,
and Trurl, considerably irritated, demanded an explanation. [...]
Stanisław Lem Jak ocalał świat*
Lem, via his stories, was always looking into the future, creating new, inspiring, grotesque and paradoxical
worlds in which he examined boundaries of the human condition. Based on the story Jak ocalał świat by Stanisław Lem,
quasi-opera Nici exists between genres. It is partially an opera and partially theater, partially stage piece and
partially concert piece. Because our contemporary reality is characterized by the coexistence of various means of
expression, we are able to look with new perspective on traditional art forms.
Krzysztof Wolek
trailer
full opera
Performed on:
April 12, 2016
2016 Musica Polonica Nova
soprano: Joanna Freszel
actors: Janusz Stolarski, Sławomir Głazek
conductor: Maciej Koczur
Kwardofonik, Defibrilator
director: Kamila Michalak
staging: Karolina Fandrejewska
live electronics: Krzysztof Wolek, Dariusz Jackowski
Narodowe Forum Muzyki
Wroclaw, Poland
*Translation excerpted from "How the World Was Saved" from THE CYBERIAD: FABLES FOR THE CYBERNETIC AGE by Stanislaw Lem, translated by Michael Kandel English Translation Copyright © 1974, renewed 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.