Krzysztof Penderecki’s „The Black Mask” is one of the greatest contemporary masterpieces of operatic music. Its apocalyptic vision of the threats looming over European culture resonates shockingly with recent events (…) the prophetic power contained in this story, drawn from Hauptmann’s short story, of a modest celebration in the home of a provincial mayor, which transformed into a harbinger of the doom of our bourgeois civilization—a doom that results not from the whims of blind fate, but from our own specific culpability.

This conviction that the unfolding of events is linked to acts of good or bad human will is close to the creators of the Baltic Opera and is linked to their artistic decisions and the interpretation of carefully selected works to build their repertoire. Among them, „The Black Mask” becomes one of the most significant components and the greatest challenges in terms of performance difficulty and quality. (Marek Weiss Grzesiński)