Prometheus

Philip Glass, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Krzysztof Pastor

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Performances

Ballet in two acts
Music:
Philip Glass (Symphony No. 11 and Mad Rush)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Requiem in D minor)
World Premiere: 18 June 2025, Polish National Ballet, Warsaw

 

Let us briefly recall the main theme of this multi-layered myth. The Titan Prometheus stole fire from the gods to share this attribute of their power over the world with the ordinary mortals and contribute to the development of humanity. Enraged with the sacrilege, Zeus decided to wreck cruel revenge on the disruptor and humankind. He ordered Prometheus to be bound to the rocks of the Caucasus and would send an Eagle each day to eat his liver. The vital organ would grow back overnight and only to Prometheus’s suffering to begin again the next day. At the same time, the king of the Olympus decided to put humanity to the test: he ordered a stunningly beautiful and multitalented woman named Pandora to be created and gifted her with a mystery box as a dowry for her future husband. There was just one condition: Pandora was not to open the box under any circumstances. Prometheus’s gullible brother Epimetheus married Pandora, who proceeded to open the box to satisfy her curiosity, consequently releasing all the evils that have been plaguing humanity ever since. Luckily, the box also contained Hope, which remains inside the box to comfort humankind.

This is more or less the story that we know from the different Greek myths and legends surrounding Prometheus. However, the Promethean story lived on and developed in Western culture, inspiring different forms of artistic production. Prometheus became the epitome of noble resistance against tyranny and the symbol of heroic struggle for spiritual freedom and progress, as his story and services for humanity fired the imagination of poets, writers, painters, and sculptors for hundreds of years. For over two centuries now, he has also had a place in the history of ballet tanks to Italian choreographer Salvatore Viganò and Ludwig van Beethoven, who wrote the score for the former’s Viennese ballet performance titled The Creatures of Prometheus (1801). The story and the music was subsequently used by many other choreographers, yet in more recent times ballet creators started to feel restricted by the specific dramaturgy of the Beethoven score, as they wished to explore the myth in a broader dimension. One notable example is Maurice Béjart, who choreographed his Prometheus to a score by French composer Maurice Ohane.

Krzysztof Pastor chose a different path, choosing music by Philip Glass and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the score for his take on the idea of the Promethean myth. The choreographer does not hide his fascination with the symbolism of Prometheus and his concern about the consequences of the Titan’s mythical act. In stealing fire from the gods and sharing it with humanity, he did propel the civilisational advancement of humankind, which nevertheless comes at the price of gradual degeneration of the world around. The new ballet promises to be a novel reinterpretation of the myth of Prometheus, his brother Epimetheus, vengeful Zeus, Pandora and her symbolic Box whose opening released so many evils that torment humanity. Undoubtedly, it will not be a straightforward adaptation of the mythical story but a poetic choreographic vision of the story and its relevance today.
 
The first act of the ballet, which directly references the myth, is set to music by Philip Glass, namely the first and second movement of the composer’s Symphony No. 9 separated by the piano piece Mad Rush. The second act is danced to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s compelling Requiem. The deeply meaningful, timeless masterpiece can be interpreted in many ways with relation to different themes and concepts. In this case it will serve to reinforce the word of warning about the dangers of our times.

Polish National Ballet
Orchestra of the Polish National Opera

 

Credits

Sponsors

  • Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland

  • Patrons of the Polish National Opera | Partners of the Opera Academy

  • Partners of the Polish National Opera

  • Partner of the Polish National Ballet

  • Media patrons

  • Media partner