Węgierska Operetka. Rola muzyki Piotra Salabera w spektaklu Andrzeja Bubienia w Nemzeti Szinhaz (Teatrze Narodowym) w Budapeszci

Łucja Demby’s article considers the performance produced at the Nemzeti Színház (National Theatre) in Budapest, based on Witold Gombrowicz’s drama Operetta and created by two Polish artists: the director, Andrzej Bubień, and the composer, Piotr Salaber. The author’s primary focus is the function of music in this production. Although in his drama Gombrowicz referred to the operetta as a music genre, he was not really concerned about the musical setting of its prospective stage productions. He viewed operetta as a symbol of the old world order, a caricatured image of the obsolete form. The grotesque was the form of art that interested him most. Their collaboration with the renowned Hungarian theatre enabled the Polish artists to approach Gombrowicz’s drama in a modern way. This was partly due to the fact that in Hungary the genre of grotesque has not developed as much as it has in Poland, whereas Viennese operetta has got a long tradition. The article highlights the way in which the music of Piotr Salaber, which is present during the whole performance, tells about the destruction of the old world and illustrates the deconstruction of Gombrowicz’s form. The Budapest National Theatre production was presented at the 11th International Gombrowicz Festival in Radom in October 2014 and won the Grand Prix.