One of the most famous 20th century a diptych of one-act stage works by composer Béla Bartók (1881-1945), combining the ballet The Magic Mandarin and the opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle. These works by B. Bartók are often shown in one performance in theaters around the world.Diptych's creative team, led by renowned choreographer ovo Krzysztof Pastor and Hungarian director Csaba Kael, present the story of "Duke Bluebeard's Castle" as the pre-death memory of the main character of "The Magical Mandarin". So Mandarin and Duke Bluebeard are like one character in this concept.According to K. Pastor, the ballet "The Magical Mandarin" tells a brutal story of a big city, where there are more fights than love duets. It's the story of a street-loving woman who meets three men one by one: an elderly gentleman, a young guy, and finally, the mysterious Mandarin. All of them are accompanied by the sign of death: after meeting the Woman, all men perish. However, Mandarin and Woman share a special bond of unfulfilled passion. Therefore, when the Woman's pimps try to destroy the persistent Mandarin, he is reborn every time he is killed: the endless desire to be with his beloved revives his vital forces. And only when the Woman finally responds to the lover's feelings, the magical Mandarin dies. And as he dies, he remembers how merciless he once was to the women who loved him...Hungarian director Cs. Kaelis tends to call "Duke Bluebeard's Castle" more a mystery than an opera: because the work is not characterized by large choruses or an abundance of characters. All the attention is focused on two characters trying to understand each other's secrets - Judith and Duke Bluebeard. The opera's libretto was based on a tale created by the French writer Charles Perrault about Bluebeard, who takes the bride back to his castle after the wedding feast. The castle is famous in the surrounding area for the fact that three women who crossed its threshold - Bluebeard's young wives - mysteriously disappeared one after another. The other girls are frightened by this, but at the same time they are attracted: they are curious to know what is going on in the castle. Judith, despite Bluebeard's warnings, manages to overcome the maze of trials in the seven rooms of the castle, which unlocks the darkest secrets of the man's soul. She is not afraid of the lake of tears shed by Bluebeard's three ex-wives, but will her determination alone be enough for a happy future for the couple?Both works, which scandalously began their existence in the 20th century. at the beginning (the opera was composed in 1911, the ballet in 1919) still fascinates and intrigues with mysterious, fabulous plots, great music.