“It’s hard to believe that this ‘Król Roger’ had been neglected for so long!” The prestigious “Opernwelt” was not alone in welcoming the belated rediscovery of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s (1882-1937) masterpiece of 1926, which resonates with echoes of Late-Romanticism and Expressionism, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. Presented at the Festival Hall of the Bregenz Festival in a production by festival director David Pountney, the musical rarity, a combination of opera, oratorio and mystery play, tells the story of 12th-century Sicilian King Roger, who is led astray by a mysterious shepherd who preaches a life of unrestrained hedonism. Director David Pountney delivers an uncommonly riveting production by staging the clash of virtue and immorality in a simple, archaic, yet wondrously luminous set reminiscent of an ancient Greek theater.