Mystery, suspense and an intangible truth that is beyond words: the work of Belgium’s first and as yet only winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Maurice Maeterlinck never divulges all his secrets. Not even in the Three Little Dramas for Marionnettes (Trois petits drames pour marionettes, 1894), three succinct and unheimlich pieces of theatre poetry revived today in the form of a new La Monnaie opera entitled Le Silence des ombres.
From Shakespeare to Judi Dench, from the inspiration he found in films to the opera singers he chose for the leading roles: the French composer Pascal Dusapin discusses the genesis of his new opera commissioned by La Monnaie, Macbeth Underworld.
A fairy tale is never just a fairy tale
A quick introduction to Rimsky-Korsakov’s Tale of Tsar Saltan? Time for a knock on the door of our dramaturge Marie Mergeay. In less than four minutes, she guides you through the final opera production of this season. Major stops: the city of Tmutarakan, the isle of Buyan and the creative brain of stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov.
Going with the storm
Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde poses a major challenge to every opera director. To turn the unendliche stream of monologues and dialogues in this masterpiece into enduring images, La Monnaie brought together two complementary visual artists. The German film director Ralf Pleger is well-acquainted with the Wagnerian universe: his documentary on the life and work of this composer won him the Public Award on the 2013 World Film Festival of Montréal. For this new production, he joins hands with the German sculptor Alexander Polzin, who previously at La Monnaie created the impressive stage design for our 2017 production of Aida. In this video portrait, both artists contemplate their approach to Wagner’s timeless hymn to love and death.
‘The Flight of the Bumblebee’ is one of those instantly recognisable musical hits that sometimes stick in your mind for days. But what few people know is that it comes from The Tale of Tsar Saltan, where it is a symphonic intermezzo that ends the first scene of Act Three. With its agitated rhythms and patterns of rapidly descending and ascending scales, it describes how Prince Gvidon, whom the Princess-Swan has turned into a bumblebee, flies across the sea hoping to meet his father.
Several weeks before the premiere, the Symphony Orchestra of La Monnaie and its Musical Director Alain Altinoglu are already offering you a foretaste.
A masterpiece that leaves nobody unmoved.
Musical Director Alain Altinoglu on his first encounter with Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, and the major music-historical influence of this four-hour tour de force.
Let our head of Dramaturgy Reinder Pols guide you on the metaphysical trip that is ‘Tristan and Isolde’. An unforgettable homage to the mythic power of love, coming to La Monnaie on May 2.
With the world premiere of ‘Frankenstein’, the first opera of Mark Grey is finally coming to life. We sat down with the American composer and sound engineer, discussing his interpretation of Mary Shelley's famous science fiction novel. How did he and director Àlex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus) manage to transport the centuries-old creature to the present day (and even the distant future)?
In the last few years, Barbara Hannigan has made unforgettable debuts in several soprano roles at La Monnaie, founded a mentoring initiative for young singers and won a Grammy. Now, with a semi-staged version of Stravinsky’s “diabolic” opera The Rake’s Progress, she will be making her debut as… an operatic conductor. Time for an interview with this Canadian superstar, who, with that many talents, surely must have made her own pact with the devil.
On 8 March, the very first opera of the US composer Mark Grey will be created at La Monnaie : Frankenstein. The original novel by Mary Shelley is brought to the stage by La Fura dels Baus in an impressive sci-fi setting. The Catalan collective has previous been invited to La Monnaie for Le Grand Macabre, Œdipe and Un ballo in maschera.
La Gioconda is one of those forgotten nineteenth century masterpieces: a grand drama with six leading roles, huge choral parts and a spectacular ballet... La Monnaie brings this all too rarely performed jewel of Italian ‘grande opera’. Not to be missed!
The economy of means employed to tell a story that gets straight to the point
The director Laurent Pelly returns to La Monnaie this December with Don Pasquale. We were able to interview him at the end of the summer, a few days before he left for Philadelphia where he presented a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor in September. A conversation devoted to Donizetti.
