A human institution

Stefan Sutkowski is truly an artistic institution. He has directed the Warsaw Chamber Opera (WOK) for nearly half a century, which makes his the longest term,
in the function of director, in the world. He was the one who created, and has been the organizer of the Mozart Festival in Warsaw since 1991, during which all of the 26 operas by the ingenious composer are presented. No other chamber music stage in the world can boast of such a success.Sutkowski’s name could very well be written into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Stefan Sutkowski, who was born in Warsaw in 1932, is a musicologist and an oboe player by training. From 1954-1974 he was an oboe player in the orchestra of the National Philharmonic. In 1957, he organized what would become a famous group, called „Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense”, which was the first group of ancient music in Poland that played on original instruments from former epochs. In 1961, he became part of the new Chamber Stage that he created by the National Philharmonic, and that gave start to the Warsaw Chamber Orchestra (WOK), which has become one of the most important musical stages in Poland and Europe.
From the moment the Warsaw Chamber Orchestra was created, Stefan Sutkowski has devoted himself entirely to the operations of the institution, fulfilling the function of its chief and artistic director. The first performance by WOK – „La serva padrona” by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – took place on the 4th of September, 1961.
The repertoire of the WOK is distinguished by the enormous variety in the musical styles and forms of the works presented there, from medieval mysteriums (liturgical dramas), on through early and late Baroque operas (including unknown or forgotten works of ancient Polish and foreign music, many of which have been performed and recorded by the WOK musicians), classical operas, 18th century pantomimes, stage works by Gioacchino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti, and also operas by contemporary Polish composers, some of which were written on commission for WOK. The performers of the opera also present chamber, oratorical and symphonic music from different epochs.
The creations of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart occupy a special place in the artistic achievements of the Warsaw Chamber Opera. The coping stone of this interest was the organization of a Mozart Festival by Stefan Sutkowski, from the 15th of June to the 26th of July, 1991 (to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death), during which artists of WOK performed all of Mozart’s stage works (26 titles), as well as his oratory, symphonic, chamber, and organ compositions. This accomplishment, which was unprecedented in the history of opera, stirred up great interest both in Poland and abroad. For that reason, the Mozart Festival became an annual event in Warsaw, and always takes place from the 15th of June to the 26th of July.
In October of 1993, Stefan Sutkowski organized the 1st Festival of Baroque Opera. This event also proved to be a success. The creativity of Monteverdi plays a special role; since 1995, a cyclic festival devoted to the works of this work has been held. In subsequent years, other festivals have taken place on the stage of WOK: Gioacchino Rossini, old Polish operas, and those Handel.
A great organizational and artistic challenge for Stefan Sutkowski proved to be the ceremonies connected with the 400th year anniversary of opera in the world, in the year 2000. During the celebration, 57 operas were presented (130 shows), and those were finished off with the Festival of Contemporary Polish Opera. From the 3rd of May, 2004 to the 3rd of May, 2005, on the initiative of the director of the Opera, a presentation of the music of United Europe took place, called „Ode to Europe”, which consisted of showing 83 opera performances and 53 concerts.   
Stefan Sutkowski, who has been honored with many awards, orders, and honorary doctorates, attaches great importance to promoting Polish music and Polish performances abroad. Since 1972, the WOK musicians have given more than a thousand performances and concerts in places like Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, former Yugoslavia, France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Japan.
During one of the anniversaries of WOK, Stefan Sutkowski recalled the beginnings of this stage, to which he has dedicated nearly his entire life:
 – I recall them very fondly, because that was work in the fallows. We have to understand that a few decades ago, the term „chamber opera” led to the question „And what is that?” The opera had to be a large theater, a large orchestra, a familiar work – meaning the nineteenth-century, sometimes going back to something of Mozart’s, and there had to be a choir, a ballet... that was opera. And suddenly there is a proposal: one lady sings, one man sings, one man is a mime, only six musicians play: first and second fiddle, viola, cello, contrabass... and there was another problem, as if it were nothing, where should we get money for it? Some small amounts of money were needed. Initially, there were dreams of performing on antique instruments – originals and copies – but though we thought about it from the beginning, it was only possible to realize those dreams in recent years. However, when choosing a repertoire, things happened by chance, though they needed to be helped along sometimes, too. I was in Vienna with the National Philharmonic, with whom I was working as an oboe player at the time. I went into the Wilinger bookstore, where in fact nearly 30 years later I would buy all of Mozart’s works, which is where our entire Mozart program comes from. I asked if they have any chamber operas. They looked for and brought out a copy of La Serva padrona. I was interested in it, I looked through it, asked how much it cost, paid, put it in my pocket, and brought it to Warsaw. Out of that the materials for all of the performers were made, and that is how our first opera, La Serva padrona, came to be. And at the same time, that is how the Warsaw Chamber Opera was born.    
This year, WOK invites you to the 20th annual Mozart Festival. A true celebration for music lovers (and of course Mozart lovers) will last from the 15th of June to the 26th of July.