The Dutch National Opera is set to present Rudi Stephan’s “Die ersten Menschen.” The work tells the story of the first family in the Biblical history of humanity, Adahm, Chawa, and their two sons Kajin and Chabel. Directed by Calixto Bieito, the director situates the primeval conflict in a modern-day setting reminiscent of the family dinner in Luis Buñuel’s film {…}
(Photo: Dutch National Opera/Monika Rittershaus) (*** Trigger warning based on explicit content & suicide ***) “Le Lacrime di Eros” takes the audience back to the Italian city states of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a period still basking in the afterglow of the High Renaissance, in which the artworks of Da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo hung in the {…}
This November the Dutch National Opera will premiere “Le Lacrime di Eros,” an experimental work that brings together music from the Renaissance with contemporary electronic music composed by the American composer Scott Gibbons, under the baton of the French conductor Raphaël Pichon, who is responsible for creating and developing the concept. The work is built around rarely heard pieces from {…}
(Photo: Marco Borggreve) In 2021, a court in The Hague ordered the giant oil company Shell to cut its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 relative to its 2019 levels. The case had been brought by Dutch environmental groups concerned by the company’s flagrant disregard for the damage their emissions were doing to the planet’s climate; recent research has shown {…}
The Dutch National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera René Barbera, Roman Burdenko, Aigul Khismatullina, Alexander Köpeczi, and Maya Gour Star in a revival of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” Yi-Chen Lin conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 2-29, 2024 Britten’s “Peter Grimes” will get a new production by Barbora Horáková. Lorenzo Viotti conducts a cast that includes Issachah Savage, Johanni van Oostrum, and {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present Puccini’s triptych “Il Trittico” for the first time. The opera will premiere on May 3, 2024 and will be shown in celebration of the centenary of Puccini’s death 1924-2024. “Il Trittico” will be conducted by Lorenzo Viotti. Stage director Barrie Kosky will helm the production and will star baritone Michael Volle in {…}
The Dutch National Opera will no longer present “Jocasta’s Line.” Per an official press release, the company made the decision after director Wayne McGregor withdrew from the production due to “private circumstances.” In his stead, Mart van Berckel and Nanine Linning will bring in a new production of Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” and the work premiere of Samy Moussa’s “Antigone.” The {…}
(Photo credit: Michel Schnater) The Dutch National Opera and Ballet has been awarded a new BREEAM-NL certificate for its production workshop. The production workshop achieved a “Very Good” rating in 2023, marking a 20 percent improvement in its overall rating from 2019. The installation of 2,000 square meters of solar panels on the roof of the workshop, which are hooked {…}
The Dutch National Opera & Ballet has announced that seat occupancy throughout 2023 was back up to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Per an official press release issued by the company, the house averaged 95 percent capacity throughout 2023. The opera itself achieved 94 percent seat occupancy, an increase of over eight percent when compared to 2018. Moreover, new audience members {…}
The Dutch National Opera has announced its 2024 Opera Forward Festival which will take place between March 8 and 17, 2024 Among the works presented is Ellen Reid’s “The Shell Trial.” The contemporary opera delves into the context of a game-changing court case in which multinational oil giant, Shell, was confronted with its contribution to the climate crisis. The opera {…}
The Dutch National Opera has been crowned with the award of Best Opera Company by the OPER! AWARDS 2024. “The Dutch National Opera under its director Sophie de Lint shows in an exemplary way how an opera house can be relevant and win acceptance in a diverse, modern urban society. Sophisticated projects and the right approach bring together people from {…}