La Monnaie / De Munt LA MONNAIE / DE MUNT
© Lissyelle Laricchia

Opera

Henry VIII

Camille Saint-Saëns

Presentation
Who can govern when in love?— Henry VIII (Act I)

Six marriages, two annulments, two beheadings and the founding of his own Church, against the authority of Rome ... In his search for a suitable spouse, the notorious Tudor king Henry VIII shrank from nothing. Material for a grand opéra, to the mind of Camille Saint-Saëns. In Henry VIII, his final tribute to the historical panoramas of the genre, he focuses on the amorous and political intrigues surrounding the annulment of Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon in favour of his new love interest, Anne Boleyn. An opera characterized by stark contrasts: between passion and modesty, jealousy and renunciation, intimacy and solemnity.

With magnificent sets, intense clashes and lively music, Olivier Py and Alain Altinoglu, two ardent champions of the French repertoire, now revive this key work by Saint-Saëns. A musical and dramaturgical journey from the sixteenth century to the present, in search of the answer to the timeless question: how far is a man of power allowed to go in his conquests?

Dates & tickets

Dates

Cast
Cast

ConductorALAIN ALTINOGLU DirectorOLIVIER PY

Set design & CostumesPIERRE-ANDRÉ WEITZ LightingBERTRAND KILLY Chorus masterSTEFANO VISCONTI

Henry VIIILIONEL LHOTE Don Gomez de FériaED LYON Le Cardinal CampeggioVINCENT LE TEXIER Le Comte de SurreyENGUERRAND DE HYS Le Duc de NorfolkWERNER VAN MECHELEN CranmerJÉRÔME VARNIER Catherine d’AragonMARIE-ADELINE HENRY Anne de BoleynNORA GUBISCH Lady ClarenceCLAIRE ANTOINEGarter / Un officier ALEXANDER MAREV *Un huissier de la cour LEANDER CARLIER * Quatre dames d’honneur ALESSIA THAIS BERARDI, ANNELIES KERSTENS, LIEVE JACOBS, MANON POSKIN Quatre seigneurs ALAIN-PIERRE WINGELINCKX, LUIS AGUILAR, BYOUNGJIN LEE, KURT GYSEN

* MM Soloist

La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Choir
La Monnaie Choral Academy, led by Benoît Giaux

ProductionLA MONNAIE

In co-production with Shelter Prod and Prospero MM Productions, with the support of Taxshelter.be and ING
With the support of the Belgian Federal Government's Tax Shelter

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