La Monnaie / De Munt LA MONNAIE / DE MUNT
© Viviane Sassen
Opera

From the House
of the Dead
Leoš Janáček

Presentation
In every being, a divine spark!— Leoš Janáček

The last opera by Czech composer Leoš Janáček is based on the semi-autobiographical novel The House of the Dead (1862) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In it, the Russian author describes the inhumane conditions in a Siberian prison camp, on the basis of his own experiences and the testimonies of his fellow prisoners. Janáček’s music in no way softens the brutality of this hopeless existence, but that makes the unexpected moments of hope and solidarity in this opera all the more moving. Krzysztof Warlikowski, leading light of the European theater, directs this shockingly modernist work while the fierce and frenetic score is in good hands with conductor Michael Boder.

Synopsis

In a Siberian prison camp, a community of male prisoners is engaged in forced labour in appalling circumstances. From time to time, a few individuals stand out from the group, which is kept in line by pitiless guards: the aristocrat Alexandr Petrovič Gorjančikov, for example, humiliated and tortured on his arrival as a political prisoner, who forms a friendship with the young Tatar Aljeja. Luka Kuzmič recounts how he murdered an officer in a previous camp, for which he was brutally punished; one frail prisoner, Skuratov, had killed the old man to whom his beloved Luisa was married off; Šiškov, too, had been convicted of a crime of passion: he discovered that his Akulka still loved the man who had damaged her reputation with false accusations. When, at the end, Gorjančikov is unexpectedly released, the prisoners also release their caged eagle. A new life?

Downloads

Dates & tickets

 – 

Location

La Monnaie

Running time

1 hour 40 minutes
(without interval)

Prices

Gold - € 159
Cat 1 - € 129 / Cat 2 - € 99
Cat 3 - € 85 / Cat 4 - € 62
Cat 5 - € 34 / Cat 6 - € 10

Language

Sung in Czech
Surtitles in Dutch and French

Presentation

Pre-performance talks 30' before the start of the performances

Streaming

streaming on
www.lamonnaie.be/en/streaming
28.11 > 18.12.2018

Gallery

Gallery

 
 

De la maison des morts – Itroduction par Olivia Whanon de Olivera by La Monnaie De Munt
Dates & tickets

Dates

Cast
Cast

ConductorMICHAEL BODER
DirectorKRZYSZTOF WARLIKOWSKI
Set and costume designMAŁGORZATA SZCZĘŚNIAK
LightingFELICE ROSS
VideoDENIS GUÉGUIN
ChoreographyCLAUDE BARDOUIL
DramaturgyCHRISTIAN LONGCHAMP
Chorus masterMARTINO FAGGIANI

Alexandr Petrovič GorjančikovSIR WILLARD WHITE
AljejaPASCAL CHARBONNEAU
Filka Morozov (Luka Kuzmič)ŠTEFAN MARGITA
Tall PrisonerNICKY SPENCE
Prisoner with the Eagle (Nikita)NICKY SPENCE
Short PrisonerIVAN LUDLOW
Prison GovernorALEXANDER VASSILIEV
Elderly PrisonerGRAHAM CLARK
SkuratovLADISLAV ELGR
ČekunovIVAN LUDLOW
Drunk PrisonerJEFFREY LLOYD-ROBERTS
CookIVAN LUDLOW
BlacksmithALEŠ JENIS
PriestPAVLO HUNKA
Young PrisonerFLORIAN HOFFMANN
ProstituteNATASCHA PETRINSKY
Prisoner (Don Juan & Brahmin)ALEŠ JENIS
KedrilJOHN GRAHAM-HALL
ŠapkinPETER HOARE
ŠiškovPAVLO HUNKA
ČerevinALEXANDER KRAVETS
GuardALEJANDRO FONTE
Voice (Off Stage)MAXIME MELNIK

La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and male Chorus

ProductionDE MUNT / LA MONNAIE
Co-productionROYAL OPERA HOUSE COVENT GARDEN (2018), OPÉRA NATIONAL DE LYON (2019)

With the support of THE BELGIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S TAX SHELTER, IN COOPERATION WITH PROSPERO MM PRODUCTIONS SA/NV AND TAXSHELTER.BE, POWERED BY ING