Fanny and Alexander - Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie - De Munt (2024) - Fanny and Alexander - Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie - De Munt (2024)

Description

World Premiere.

"Christmas Eve in Sweden. At the Ekdahls', the household staff are finishing decorating the sumptuous tree. The Ekdahls run the local theater, and Helena's grandchildren, Fanny and Alexander, also seem born for the stage. Soon, the living room fills with chatter, the clinking of glasses, and exquisite smells. In the early morning, the rumors of the party give way to bawdy chuckles, and the drunken guests slip under the sheets (not necessarily with their partners), while the children daydream in front of their magic lantern show. Nothing suggests that all warmth will soon desert their existence. But their father, Oscar, dies suddenly and their mother, Emilie, remarries the authoritarian Bishop Edvard Vergérus, who sets about disciplining the children and chasing away Alexander's lively fantasies, if necessary by raising his hand to him...

Fanny and Alexander (1982), a semi-autobiographical film by Ingmar Bergman, makes its operatic debut this year in a creation by composer Mikael Karlsson and librettist Royce Vavrek. A family chronicle of this magnitude required large-scale means. For her debut at La Monnaie, conductor Ariane Matiakh tackles a score that combines symphonic music and ingenious electronic surround sounds. For the occasion, she directs a cast of fourteen soloists, including Thomas Hampson and Anne Sofie von Otter. A great connoisseur of Bergman's work, director Ivo van Hove delves deep into the souls of his characters to create, with scenographer Jan Versweyveld, tableaux that gradually transform into a frightening hall of mirrors, an imaginary world that challenges harsh reality – and could end up winning it."

More information is available on the official website of the opera house.