''Cyberiada'' (also known by its German title ') is an opera in three acts (11 scenes) composed by

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of P ...

to a Polish-language

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by the composer himself, based on ''

The Cyberiad ''The Cyberiad'' ( pl, Cyberiada) is a series of humorous science fiction short stories by Polish writer Stanisław Lem, originally published in 1965, with an English translation appearing in 1974. The main protagonists of the series are Trurl a ...

'', a series of science fiction short stories by

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

. It won the Grand Prix of the Prince Pierre of Monaco composers' competition in 1970 and was first performed in its entirety on 11 May 1986 at the

Opernhaus Wuppertal Opernhaus Wuppertal (Wuppertal Opera House) is a German theatre in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. It houses mostly performances of operas, but also plays, run by the municipal Wuppertaler Bühnen. The house is also the venue for dance perfo ...

Background and performance history

Meyer's first (and only) opera, ''Cyberiada'' was composed between 1967 and 1970. The composer himself wrote the libretto which is based on

's ''

'', a darkly comic series of science fiction short stories. The revolutionary approach by Meyer in terms of music included the incorporation of chance into the process of creation known as

aleatoricism Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "action ...

, and the use of

sonorism Sonorism (Polish: ''Sonoryzm'') is an approach to musical composition associated with a number of notable Polish composers. The scholar Józef Michał Chomiński coined the term "sonoristics" (Polish: ''sonorystyka'') to describe the urge to explor ...

in orchestration, based on inventing new types of sounds on individual instruments. The opera won the Grand Prix of the Prince Pierre of Monaco composers' competition in 1970. The first act was premiered on Polish television in 1971. The first complete performance of the work took place at the Opernhaus Wuppertal on 11 May 1986 conducted by . On that occasion, it was performed as ''Kyberiade'' in a German translation by Jörg Morgener (pseudonym of Jürgen Köchel). The stage director was

Friedrich Meyer-Oertel Friedrich Meyer-Oertel (3 April 1936 – 14 March 2021) was a German opera director. After positions at Staatstheater Mainz, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Opernhaus Wuppertal and Staatstheater Darmstadt, he was active as a freelance stage director. ...

. Internationale Musikverlage Hans Sikorski
''Krzysztof Meyer''
p. 10. Retrieved 19 July 2013 The opera was given its Polish premiere and sung in the original Polish at the

Grand Theatre, Poznań Grand Theatre, Poznań (Polish: ''Teatr Wielki im. Stanisława Moniuszki w Poznaniu'') is a neoclassical opera house located in Poznań, Poland. It is named after famous Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko. History Designed by German architec ...

, on 25 May 2013 in honour of Meyer's 70th birthday. It was the first time the opera had been revived since its premiere in Wuppertal. The Poznań production was directed by Ran Arthur Braun and conducted by Krzysztof Słowiński, with space-

scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material st ...

by Justin C. Arienti.

Roles

Synopsis

The setting of the opera is described in German as "Auf der Erde in der Zukunft, im kybernetischen Zeitalter" (On Earth in the future, in the cybernetic era).Cyberiada (Kyberiade; Krzysztof Meyer nach Stanisław Lem)
operone.de , retrieved 16 July 2013 The libretto follows the "

nested stories A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a narrative, story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are ...

" ("nested

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

s") format, with the internal stories corresponding to Lem's original texts. Queen Genia (Genialina) suffers from melancholy. To cheer herself up, she asks her android Trull (a robotic engineer and a powerful supercomputer, a counterpart of Lem's Trurl) to construct robots who can invent fairytales for her amusement. Three machines each entertain her by telling a different story. This is where fairytales inside a tale begin. However, Trull makes sure that he himself is featured in every one of them. The first story recounts how Trull builds a supercomputer for Mondrylion (the name is kind of "Smarty-boots" in Polish, named Mandrilius in the German version), the King of the FarTooMany folk. When the King tries to get his new computer to destroy Trull, the wily engineer saves himself by a clever trick. The second story recounts how the subject of King Voluptatus (Król Rozporyk in Polish, i.e. Zipperupus), a constructor named Chytrian (Listig in German), tries to get rid of him because he has completely lost touch with reality after spending too much time in special giant cupboards which generate erotic dreams. The third story recounts how Automatthias loses his faith in computers after being shipwrecked on a deserted island. He can find no way to escape, even with help of his miniature computer named "Im Ohr" ("In the Ear"). By the time he is eventually rescued, he has become a lifelong foe of technology. The final insight resulting from these "ironic utopian reflections" on human existence is that only wisdom and truth can save the world, not the pursuit of progress, perfection, and wealth. In the finale, Trull kills a clone of himself.Lynn, Karyl Charna (28 May 2013)
"Krzysztof Meyer's Cyberiada receives rare staging in Poznań"
. ''Opera Now''. Retrieved 18 July 2013

References

External links

, 2013 {{Authority control Operas by Krzysztof Meyer 1970 operas Polish-language operas Operas based on literature Operas Science fiction operas Adaptations of works by Stanisław Lem