House of Creations

This Tuesday 8 February, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards, the world's most famous and prestigious film awards ceremony. Thirty-eight years ago, in 1984, Fanny och Alexander won no less than four golden statuettes, in the categories of Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography (Sven Nykvist) and Best Foreign Language Film, an award which, in the absence of Ingmar Bergman, was accepted on his behalf by his wife Ingrid von Rosen and - not without a dry sense of humor - by the film's producer.  

The woman is a living mystery, with many faces and even more secrets. Luckily, mezzo-soprano Albane Carrère is a woman of many skills. A short try-out and then she’s ready for her close-up.

Cinematograph is the name of the production and distribution company founded by Ingmar Bergman himself, which has (co)produced all his feature films from Skammen (1968) to Fanny och Alexander (1983) and which has been led by his son Ingmar Junior since 2019. One of Cinematograph's daughter companies, Hammars Drama Production, was responsible for the cultural entertainment at the Nobel Prize banquet in 2018 and for this occasion knocked on the door of Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson. The beginning of a creative collaboration that now continues with the opera Fanny och Alexander, in which Cinematograph will be involved as a partner.

No problem in these winter conditions, but what if you need snow in August? Just leave that to our props department! A look behind the scenes of the video shoot with Amaury Massion last summer.

"Constipation is no laughing matter!" The character of Julie Follavoine in On purge bébé has only one mission: her constipated son Toto must and will drink his laxative drink. Whether this is indeed something nót to laugh about, remains to be seen, but we do know one thing for sure: Jodie Devos is the perfect singer for this role. In this first of three cast reveals, the Belgian coloratura soprano looks forward to her first contemporary opera project.

Costumes? Check. Make-up? Go! Albane Carrère (The Woman), Sarah Defrise (The Teenager) and Amaury Massion (The Man) are finally ready to fully step into the shoes of their characters. Time for the video shoot!

It is no coincidence that Fanny och Alexander is scheduled as an end-of-year production. The opulent, magical Christmas festivities with which Bergman’s movie opens, makes it for many one of the most beautiful Christmas films of all time. The meticulous preparations at the Ekdahl house, the grandiose buffet, the perfect Christmas tree, the Nativity scene, the dances and authentic carols ("Nu är det Jul igen")... No wonder that, in Sweden, people still speak of a "Fanny och Alexander Christmas”.

And then there was music. While our chorus and orchestra are rehearsing in the Fiocco space, the singers get to record their solos in a different room. Telecommuting, but not as you know it…

Where else to work on Fanny och Alexander than on Fårö, where Ingmar Bergman lived and worked for more than 40 years? Since 2010, the Bergman Estate, founded by his youngest daughter Linn Ullmann, has managed his houses and properties on the Swedish island as a non-commercial place of work, inspiration and contemplation for performers, creators and academics from around the world. Librettist Royce Vavrek and composer Mikael Karlsson were in residence there for nearly a month this summer. They were welcomed to the island by none other than Ingmar Bergman junior (left on photo) and some of the work on the text was done at the filmmaker's very own desk, which has been preserved in its original state.

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.