LOHENGRIN / PROGRAMME / Bastille / Septembre / 2023

Description

Lohengrin opera program - Opéra Bastille - from September 23 to October 27, 2023

Accused of killing her brother, the heir to the Duchy of Brabant, Elsa asks to be defended by the man she saw in a dream. When he appears, led by a swan, he accepts on condition that she never asks his name. Richard Wagner was 37 when he wrote Lohengrin, his romantic opera with magnetic music. By writing the libretto (inspired by Germanic legends) and score himself, he laid the foundations for his "musical drama", to which a prelude, leitmotivs, orchestra and full chorus also contributed. Director Kirill Serebrennikov, known for his powerful creations, makes his Paris Opéra debut with this work, which he illuminates in a sombre light with a reflection on war as a machine for crushing bodies and souls.