House of Creations

Key moment for every opera in preparation: the presentation of the scenic concept, usually about a year before the premiere. Today, the artistic team presented On purge bébé to a selected group of collaborators from La Monnaie and coproduction partners Opéra de Lyon and Théâtre du Châtelet. Composer Philippe Boesmans himself provided the introduction to his seventh opera commissioned by La Monnaie, and was flanked by stage director Richard Brunel (also General and Artistic director of the Opéra de Lyon) and scenographer Etienne Pluss. The latter also unveiled the model of the set, which will lead to work sessions with the technical teams of La Monnaie in the coming days. Conductor Bassem Akiki contributed to this introduction via video call and was the only one to escape the mouth mask requirement.

Is this the End? #2 is shaping up to become anything but a traditional opera. The team is planning to mix live performance with pre-registered video and soundscapes. Composer Jean-Luc Fafchamps even set up station in the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon. Take a look behind the scenes of his nocturnal organ recording session! Playing the organ: Mathias Lecomte, assisted by no other than Benoît Mernier and Charlène Bertholet.

Today, the Paris Opera saw the final performance of the revival of Play. This new choreography by Alexander Ekman from 2017 owes its success in part to the intensity of its music, composed by Mikael Karlsson, who is currently working on the score for Fanny och Alexander.

In its complete version, originally intended as a mini-series for television, Fanny och Alexander lasts about 5 hours. If that makes you wonder whether this work actually lends itself to a theatrical adaptation, you should know that Ingmar Bergman himself wrote a version for the stage. For those interested: the piece is currently being performed at the Comédie Française in Paris....

Prima la musica e poi le parole? Not when it comes to composer Philippe Boesmans and librettist Richard Brunel. They are working concurrently on music and text. Scraping and polishing sentences and scenes in close collaboration so that both will form a beautiful symbiosis.

Meet the makers! Het Geluid Maastricht (a collective founded by brother and sister Gable and Romy Roelofsen) is an experimental platform for the creation of new, engaged forms of music theatre and opera, that often works with new technologies or social developments.

"We see the making of music theatre as a bridge between the new and the old, and as a crossroads of opposites and perspectives. Through music theatre, we investigate the world around us and let that world speak for itself in our work. The questions 'What does the music theatre of the future look like?', 'How can music theatre contribute to an inclusive and healthy society?' and 'In which places in society can music theatre be a valuable addition in our ever-changing world?' are guiding us in our thinking and acting. With Het Geluid Maastricht, we are always looking for the primal force of (new) communities."

Here's the Woman! Time for Albane Carrère to step into the spotlight. During the first video recordings, our costumiers and make-up artists transformed her for the first time into the protagonist of Is this the End? #2, a mysterious woman lost between life and death, between illusion and reality.

Bergman has always stuck with me, because his films are at the same time harsh and tender. They can be bitter, they look life straight into the eye, but in this they always remain humane.

Ivo van Hove

March for the climate in Brussels

Between 50,000 and 70,000 people marched in the capital on Sunday, each of them aware of the scale of the problem and the need to change our lifestyles. An atmosphere of solidarity, indignation and commitment. Signs and slogans everywhere, some humorous, others with a more direct message of concern. A striking number of young people, including the activists of Youth for Climate, but all generations are represented...

Another demonstration to draw the attention of politicians and citizens to the urgency of the climate issue. Will they be heard this time?

On September 22^nd, La Monnaie hosted the first meeting between composer Bernard Foccroulle – whose opera Cassandra deals with the urgent issue of climate change – and young activists from Youth for Climate. It provoked a fascinating exchange about the difficulty climate campaigners have making their voices heard.

Present at the meeting were a number of key figures from the ‘Green Opera’ project at La Monnaie and composer Kris Defoort. Later that evening, Anuna Dewever and her fellow activists attended the latter’s latest creation The Time of Our Singing, which gave them some idea of the scale of an opera and the ecological challenges staging it presents.

I knew that the score of my opera that I'm writing, or rather the two-thirds that I’ve finished, was in good hands. It wasn’t at my place. I remember when I was rescued, when I was taken down from the balcony with a lift, that this was the first thing that popped in my head: "Ah, I still have my notes." That was more important than all my furniture together.

Philippe Boesmans in La Conversation avec Camille De Rijck on Musiq3 - 16-9-21

Each opera is the result of a complex symbiosis of hundreds of sounds, talents, metiers and emotions. And yet everything always starts with the basics: a piano, a human voice and a score waiting to be discovered. This is how it all begins for Is this the End?#2 too, during the first musical rehearsal with conductor Ouri Bronchti and soloists Albane Carrère, Sarah Defrise and Amaury Massion (lylac) on Wednesday 18 August.