LA MONNAIE / DE MUNT

The MM Academy offers students of one of Belgium’s conservatories and music colleges the opportunity to supplement their training with a professional internship in our chorus. They get the opportunity to take part in concerts and opera performances, to come into contact with professionals, to follow singing masterclasses, and to attend our public performances. Potential vocal soloists can enjoy further support as MM Soloist or MM Laureate.

Heard in movies as diverse as The Iron Lady, 2046 and Avengers: Age of Ultron, "Casta Diva" is one of the most famous arias (more precisely, a cavatina) in operatic history. But there is much more to Norma than this piece alone. The Italian conductor Sesto Quatrini explores five other unforgettable extracts.

A Brueghelian Brabantine or a cosmopolitan who personally knew Rimsky-Korsakov and James Ensor? A 'provincial musician' or an international composer who indulged in jazz and Poulenc, and whose operas were performed several times at La Monnaie? Learn all about the exceptional composer of the Nocturne.

One week to go, and with the arrival of the orchestra, the team behind Lulu shifts into top gear. What does the full orchestra pit change for our leading soprano? And how does she prepare for the final sprint after a marathon of five intense weeks of rehearsals?

Bringing a production back to life in an opera house, nine years after its first performance, is only possible through a whole series of small steps, all lined up like dominoes. Stretching from the last closing night to the upcoming opening night, they involve every single part of the show, and therefore every department that worked on the original production.

Living the life of a monk, dealing with bruises and a daily trial of strength with an intimidating score: it takes a lot to climb the Everest of soprano roles. In this video portrait, we follow Barbara Hannigan during the first weeks of her preparations for Lulu. "I don't want to think about opening night, much less about closing night." 

One of the leading lights in the European theatre, Krzysztof Warlikowski is celebrated for his psychological precision, the non-conformism of his dramaturgical readings and his contemporary visual language. In this video portrait, he walks us through his previous La Monnaie productions.

Romantic vocal lines, atonal sprechgesang or even just spoken word – give Georg Nigl a text and he imprints expression and meaning on each and every syllable. In honour of his literary recital, we delved deep into our archives and found this – equally literary – fragment: his heartfelt interpretation of the poet Jakob Lenz in the eponymous opera by Wolfgang Rihm, which earned him the title of ‘Singer of the Year’ in 2015.

At la Monnaie, we are aware of the urgency of the climate challenge and want to ensure sustainability is part of all our institutional practices. In the 2018-19 season, we initiated the 'Green Opera' project to develop an eco-responsible production model. Project manager Sophie Cornet and Etienne Andreys (head of our set workshops) present some of the spearpoints of the project.

The bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner behind The Time of Our Singing would have loved to attend the world premiere of this opera adaptation. The promotional obligations surrounding his latest novel Bewilderment decided otherwise. A planned encounter with the author thus became an extended Zoom conversation that deserves to be shared here in its entirety - despite the occasional internet glitch and subpar pixel quality.

A few days before the world premiere, we talk to conductor Kwamé Ryan about the unique musical mix in The Time of Our Singing, his collaboration with composer Kris Defoort, and what it means to bring this immensely relevant opera to life in this day and age.

In this programme text, conductor Kwamé Ryan dissects from a personal point of view the topic of multi-ethnic identity and the musical eclecticism in The Time of Our Singing.