Dziady – Widma – a stage cantata by Stanisław Moniuszko to the words of the second part of the famous drama by Adam Mickiewicz- was the very first premiere prepared by the Polish Royal Opera. After five years of functioning of the institution, a new performance was created, based on the same text by Mickiewicz, yet interpreted in a completely different way – both in terms of staging and music.

Night of the Ravens is an opera written on commission by one of the most outstanding contemporary Polish composers – Zygmunt Krauze. The libretto was prepared by Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk on the basis of Adam Mickiewicz’s Ballades and Romances and Dziady. The author puts the well-known texts in an entirely new context – she seamlessly integrates the themes and fragments of various works, thus building a coherent image of the world enchanted in the poetry of the Polish bard. The characters of the ballads come to the call of the Guślarz and the commoners celebrating Dziady. “Sinful souls obsessed with love” reveal their stories but they find no relief, while the living, overwhelmed by emotion, face Death. The atmosphere of mystery and horror is enhanced by the recurring motifs of the tango – a dance in which passion is intertwined with tragedy, and excitement with disappointment.