One of the first jobs I had when I came to live in Poland 10 years ago was to sing Handel`s Rinaldo at the Opera Kameralna in Warsaw. The Warsaw Chamber Opera is an extraordinary relic from the Communist years. Relic, because it seems impossible to imagine that in a free economy public money can or should be spent on something that is so clearly elitist: elitist not only because of the perceived elitism of opera but because this little theatre only has 120 seats. Despite its size, when I sang there I think it employed almost as many people as the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
This theatre is one of Poland`s secrets, odd given the passion for opera shared by so many people throughout the world. Where else could you hear all of Mozart`s operas and a swathe of the Baroque repertoire in a theatre that is smaller than most court theatres, for less than the price of a modest dinner, and be able to buy a ticket on the night?
So why has this jewel remained so little known? Partly, because Poland still needs to improve the way it promotes what it has. A couple of years ago I had to edit a television commercial that was promoting Poland as a place to come to for golf. This really stretches the imagination especially if you know anything about golf and Polish topography. However, I then made a commercial for BBC World TV advertising Warsaw as a city of culture. If culture means giving Barqoue and Classical operas in a tiny theatre with singers who have an international careers, then that fine with me.
