OPERA 2025: Not for casual listening

For a few days every year, Poznań is home to a European sound laboratory. This is owing to the collaboration between CK Zamek, which has consistently proven fearless in showcasing progressive art, and LAS, one of Poland's most active boundary-busting curatorial agencies with hundreds of remarkable concerts in the city under its belt.

From its very first edition, OPERA was never just another "avant-garde event" but rather a genuine sound manifesto, focused less on chasing celebrity line-ups (though big names are not in short supply), and more on a carefully curated vision and captivating storytelling.

The festival unfolds as a three-day psychoanalytical session for anyone convinced that music, even (or perhaps especially) today's variety, is and should be more than just a work playlist and background noise to life. The organisers firmly distance themselves from musical "bingeing", favouring fewer but more carefully selected sets and concerts.

"We feel that's more than enough, because the music on offer isn't exactly easy listening. Besides, we've deliberately avoided event overlaps. We don't want people to face tough choices, and at times it's even better to skip less appealing concerts and take a break," says Krystian Piotr, founder, curator and producer at LAS, who has been independently organising concerts in Poznań for over 12 years.

Looking at this year's programme, it is quite clear, as was the case with the previous edition, that OPERA will deliver stark contrasts. Ambient, deeply introspective soundscapes will be set against bursts of post-club energy and unbridled emotion that tear down stylistic boundaries. Subtle, almost meditative experiences will collide with the restless energy of sets capable of stripping any musical genre down to its core.

Krystian Piotr emphases that the festival brings independent artists firmly united by ideals of freedom. "They are all engaged in broadly defined contemporary music, including projects never before seen in Poland. Even if some have been artistically active for decades, what matters to me is that their work feels relevant, that the listening experience evokes emotions rooted in today's world. A number of interchangeable terms describe their music: experimental, avant-garde, new, independent, and non-commercial, no matter which one we choose, it will be appropriate."

So who's on the bill? First up, Drew McDowall, undoubtedly a living legend of British counterculture. If you recall the cult album Horse Rotorvator by his duo Coil, the early works of Psychic TV, you'll know he's never been compromised. His collaborations with Genesis P-Orridge, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and John Balance mark an immensely crucial chapter in the history of industrial avant-garde. Yet, McDowall shows no sign of slowing down. His solo recordings, such as last year's A Thread, Silvered and Trembling, transport listeners into a mystical, often unsettling world, filled with raw and at times dark magic.

Another good reason not to miss OPERA is Ian Lynch, founder of Lankum, who will perform his solo project One Leg One Eye, built on noise seeming rising straight out of the ground, from Irish soil, history and mythology. Black-metal intensity, noise-driven loops, and mournful bagpipes combine to draw the listener into a tale that is as contemporary as it is timeless.

From the Polish scene comes Piernikowski, a long-standing experimental producer, vocalist and rapper, formerly part of the duo Syny and the band Napszykłat. His sound evokes concrete, city lights, smoke and melancholy, with fury simmering under the hood. A Polityka Passport nominee and a long-time collaborator with Brodka, he has for years consistently blurred the lines between electronica, avant-garde, hip hop and spoken word.

Equally worth highlighting is the duo Robert Curgenven & Kat McDowall with their project Agenesis, best described as sound and light in parallel, an immersion of the senses that defies comparison. More than a concert, it's an experiment, a physical transformation of space and perception, rooted in the manipulation of shadow and light by Polaroid's inventor, Edwin Land. Here sound drives light, light reshapes sound, and the audience becomes less of a spectator and more an integral part of a synaesthetic whole.

A definite programme highlight will be a performance by Brodinski, a French DJ and producer, resident of the legendary Social Club, co-founder of the Bromance label, and author of hybrid tracks that blend techno and American rap. After releasing his debut album Brava  (2015) and having collaborated with artists such as Kaytranada, Brodinski threw himself into experiments, dividing his time between Atlanta and Paris, rap and electronica, tradition and innovation, a restless journey that continues to this day.

Festival concerts will take place in Sala Wielka (the Grand Hall) of the Castle, while Dziedziniec (the Courtyard) will host DJ sets and live acts. Additional accompanying events will be staged in other spaces across CK Zamek (the Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre).

Sebastian Gabryel

translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski

Opera 2025
Zamek (Castle) Cultural Centre, 19-21.09, tickets: PLN 49-99, passes: PLN 249 

© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2025