We are delighted that the production of ‘The Idiot’ by Mieczysław Weinberg, performed at the Salzburg Festival, was honoured with the prestigious OPER! AWARD in Brussels last night. A moving work about humanity in a broken world - staged by Krzysztof Warlikowski, conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and starring Bogdan Volkov. The jury praised the production as shockingly dense, poetically compelling and breathtakingly true to life.

“A political piece, the final of seven operas by a composer who, along with his œuvre, came close to being forgotten in the maelstrom of 20th-century catastrophes. The opera deals with the powerlessness of good people in a society marked by greed, nihilism and decadence. Krzysztof Warlikowski staged this parable in a shockingly dense manner on a horizontally movable space, perfect for arranging parallel scenes of simultaneous events. The actions of the top-rate cast were breathtakingly true to life, conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s identification with the score compellingly poetic. Yes, this is exactly what festivals should be doing – recovering lost masterpieces for the repertoire: like Mieczysław Weinberg’s The Idiot at the Salzburg Festival.”