Opera in 16 scenes.
Libretto: Beniamin Bukowski based on the book The Best City in the World by Grzegorz Piątek.
Original Polish language version with Polish and English subtitles.

The reconstruction of the Grand Theatre - National Opera after the destruction of the war took twenty years. The grand opening of the building in 1965 was an important event for Warsaw, showing the scale of the destruction but also the determination to revive the city. In 2025, an opera about the rebuilding of Warsaw will be premiered on the Theatre's stage, marking the 80th anniversary of the start of this challenging process.

The performance was inspired by Grzegorz Piątek's book The Best City in the World. Warsaw under reconstruction in 1944-1949, which is a panorama of the first post-war years of an extraordinary undertaking that brought people together regardless of their views and in spite of the war conflagration. Librettist Benjamin Bukowski has created a story that draws on sources from the era: political speeches, the technical jargon of urban planning, as well as the colloquial language of the street. It is not, however, a historical chronicle, but a story of complicated human destinies intertwined.

The main protagonists here are two women: a modernist architect modelled on Helena Syrkus, working for the Capital Reconstruction Bureau, whose pre-war dreams of rebuilding a non-functional city turn into a macabre reality, and an American journalist with the features of Anne Louise Strong, a reporter fascinated by communism who travelled with the Red Army through war-ravaged Poland. Their meeting will lead to both of them having to revise their world view.

The music for the performance was created by composer Cezary Duchnowski. The piece combines orchestral momentum with modern electronics, soloist parts with choral parts to tell the story of both the enormity of the city's tragedy and the perspectives of its individual inhabitants. For Warsaw-based director Barbara Wisniewska, the opera has a personal dimension as it is a story,

Director: Barbara Wisniewska

Cast: Joanna Freszel as Journalist, Agata Zubel as Architect, Filip Kosior as Guide.

Release date: 2025-09-19
Genre: opera
Set design: Natalia Kitamikado
Light: Aleksandr Prowalinskiy
Choreography: Maciek Prusak
Costumes: Emil Wysocki