"As for Warlikowski - while Poland was discussing whether his Woyzeck would show the hero naked or in underwear - serious people like Gerard Mortier of the Bastille Opera saw the performance, loved it, and hired Warlikowski to come to France and put on operetic performances there. This is a reason to be proud of our country; not the fact that we can go to La Scala and copy cat something or get some half priced curtains. We don't want to be beggers, we want to build our own cultural reputation in Europe. Certainly there are many different visions of the opera and I am open to different ideas, but the key question should be: what is your idea, what do you want to do? Mr. Pietkiewicz's question is: what should we stop doing, which ideas are bad?"

Says Mariusz Treliński, recently dismissed artistic director of the National Opera, in this wide ranging interview, noting that over 2 million Poles have already left the country for lack of opportunities, and that the recent events in the National Opera will only drive good Polish artists to seek work overseas rather than contribute to the nation's cultural heritage. JP: The new director General of the National Opera, Janusz Pietkiewicz, has said that you are avoiding contact with him; and today the two of you are to meet in order to dicuss your future at the opera. What do you think that future will be? Mariusz Treliński: I'm in a rough situation. I would remind you that we've put on 11 premieres this season, and we've invited many important people from overseas, such as Placido Domingo and Marek Minkowski; we've built a new cycle of performances called "Terytoria," which is to present the Polish public with hitherto unknown operatic accomplishments from overseas. These perf