King Roger - Performance History

Performance History

Since its 1926 premiere, stagings of King Roger have been relatively rare. Two productions followed closely, the first in Duisburg, Germany in 1928 and the second in 1932 in Prague. The first post Second World War presentation was in Palermo in 1949 (in the presence of the librettist), after which some years passed before the opera was seen again.

In 1975, the New Opera Company in London produced the work which was conducted by Charles Mackerras, while the opera was first seen in the US in 1981 in a concert version given by the St. Louis Symphony in St. Louis, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. That same year it was presented at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, conducted by Stanisław Wisłocki.

Since the late 1980s and into the present century, King Roger seems to have enjoyed something of a revival with about thirteen productions in many different locations. In 1988, the Long Beach Opera in California, known for its innovative approach to the repertoire, had Murray Sidlin as conductor and James Johnson as King Roger, Nancy Shade as Roxana, and Jonathan Mack as Edrisi. Palermo presented King Roger again in 1992. Three concert versions were given by the end of the 1990s: the first by Orchestre National de France in Paris, conducted by Charles Dutoit in 1996 and at the London Proms by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle in 1998, while the third was presented in Canada in 1999 by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit.

In the 21st century, King Roger was given by the Polish National Opera in 2000 and in Japan in 2002 as a concert version by the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, conducted by Charles Dutoit. The Mariinsky Opera Company brough the work to the Edinburgh Festival in 2008 under Valery Gergiev and directed by Mariusz Trelinski

It was presented for the first time in Polish in Palermo in 2005 and also by the Wrocław Opera in 2007. A subsequent US performance was at the Bard SummerScape Festival in 2008.

Both the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and the Opéra National de Paris in Paris, conducted by Kazushi Ono presented it in 2009. In 2011, King Roger appeared at the Staatstheater Mainz. A new production of the opera was staged in Polish at The Santa Fe Opera on 21 July 2012 with Mariusz Kwiecien in the title role.