Christmas Eve. Staff are just finishing trimming the splendid Christmas tree at the Ekdahl family home in Sweden. The Ekdahls run the local theatre and the young Fanny and Alexander also seem to have been born for the stage. The living room soon fills with the sound of laughter and clinking glasses as well as delicious smells. In the early hours, as the hubbub subsides to naughty giggles and the inebriated guests crawl under the covers (with or without their own partners), the children dream at the spectacle of their magic lantern. Nothing suggests that all warmth will soon disappear from their lives when their father Oscar dies unexpectedly and their mother Emilie soon gets married again, this time to the authoritarian bishop Edvard Vergérus. He is keen to discipline the children and rid Alexander of his vivid fantasies, harshly if necessary …
This winter, Ingmar Bergman’s semi-autobiographical film Fanny och Alexander (1982) will come to life on the opera stage, in a creation by composer Mikael Karlsson and librettist Royce Vavrek. A grandiose family chronicle demands grandiose means. For her debut at La Monnaie, conductor Ariane Matiakh will turn her attention to a score that combines the acoustic sound of a symphony orchestra with ingenious surround electronics, commanding a cast of fourteen soloists, among whom none other than Thomas Hampson and Anne Sofie von Otter. Director Ivo van Hove, who is intimately familiar with Bergman’s work, will dig deep into the soul of his characters and, together with scenographer Jan Versweyveld, will create scenes that gradually unfold into a spectral hall of mirrors. A fantasy world that stubbornly goes against harsh reality – and may ultimately overcome it.
Are you under 30? Then attend this opera on the Young Opera Night (13.12.2024) and we treat you to a personal welcome, a free drink, a free programme book and an after-event.
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Dynamic ticket prices
Starting from € 12 to € 170
-30 years: € 10 / 25 / 50
-15 years: € 10 / 25 (only via MM Tickets)
Sung in English
Surtitles in Dutch and French
Estimated duration (TBC)
Act 1: 90 min
Interval: 30 min
Act 2: 70 min
Total: 3h10
Introductory talks 45' before the start of the performance: in Dutch by Pieter Mannaerts (Grand Foyer) and in French by Delphine Clarinval (Bonbonnière)
Musiq3:
Live broadcast on 13.12
Assure yourself of the best seats at the lowest price thanks to our flexible series season tickets starting from €50
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A grand opera in two acts
Music by Mikael Karlsson
Libretto by Royce Vavrek after the film Fanny och Alexander by Ingmar Bergman
Under license from Josef Weinberger Ltd
Orchestration: Michael P. Atkinson, Mikael Karlsson
World premiere
Commissioned by De Munt / La Monnaie
With the kind collaboration of Ingmar Bergman Jr. & Cinematograph AB
ConductorARIANE MATIAKH DirectorIVO VAN HOVE
Set & Lighting DesignerJAN VERSWEYVELD Costume DesignerAN D’HUYS Video DesignerCHRISTOPHER ASHDramaturgy preparationPETER VAN KRAAIJ
Helena EkdahlSUSAN BULLOCKOscar EkdahlPETER TANTSITS Emilie EkdahlSASHA COOKE FannySARAH DEWEZ*, LUCIE PENNINCK* AlexanderJAY WEINER* Bishop Edvard VergerusTHOMAS HAMPSON JustinaANNE SOFIE VON OTTER Isak JacobiLOA FALKMAN IsmaëlARYEH NUSSBAUM COHEN AronALEXANDER SPRAGUE Carl EkdahlJUSTIN HOPKINS LydiaPOLLY LEECH Gustav Adolf EkdahlGAVAN RING Alma EkdahlMARGAUX DE VALENSART ° PaulinaMARION BAUWENS °° EsmeraldaBLANDINE COULON °
° MM Laureate
°° MM Soloist
*Member of Children's and youth choruses of La Monnaie
La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra
ProductionDE MUNT / LA 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