Alexander Kravets

Posthumously premiered in 1930, From the House of the Dead derives from Dostoevsky’s autobiographical 1862 novel that drew on his experience as a political prisoner in Siberia. Janáček focuses on Dostoevsky’s idea of the “spark of God” in every human being that has the potential to redeem even the most hardened criminal.

Le dernier opéra de Puccini est un spectacle grandiose rempli de couleurs vives, de danses et de drames dans une mise en scène classique d’Andrei Serban.

Que se passe-t-il quand un nez décide de quitter son propriétaire pour vivre sa vie ? Séduit par la dimension fantastique et « insensée » de la nouvelle Le Nez de Nikolaï Gogol (1836), Dimitri Chostakovitch choisit cette satire de la société russe et de son administration tsariste pour son premier opéra, qu’il compose à 22 ans, en 1928. En raison de sa critique sociale, de son thème surréaliste et de son plaisant mélange de styles musicaux, cette œuvre presque démente est bannie du répertoire soviétique pendant près d’un demi-siècle. En dépit d’effectifs démesurés (près de 80 personnages et une section percussion comptant 14 instruments), cette partition géniale et pétillante reçoit aujourd’hui à nouveau l’attention qu’elle mérite. Àlex Ollé et La Fura dels Baus en donneront une interprétation visuellement spectaculaire, tandis que Gergely Madaras fera ses débuts à la Monnaie à la tête d’un orchestre déchaîné.

At a glittering party in 18th-century Paris, the poet Andréa Chenier delivers an impassioned denunciation of Louis XVI. Five years later, the Revolution has given way to the Terror, transforming the power balance between Chénier, his beloved Maddalena, and Gérard, the man who could destroy him...

The dark world of Tchaikovsky’s penultimate operatic masterpiece Queen of Spades hinges on obsession, greed, and a secret in winning at cards… In 2005, the Opéra Bastille mounted a compelling production featuring Vladimir Galouzine as the mad lover Hermann, Hasmik Papian as the doomed Lisa, and Irina Bogatcheva as the mysterious Comtesse.

Tsar Saltan marries the youngest of three sisters, having heard that it is her dearest wish to present him with a heroic son and heir. Her jealous sisters and the old Aunt Barbaricha cannot bear this situation to persist and by trickery see to it that the Tsaritsa and her newborn son Gvidon are thrown into the sea. In their barrel they are washed ashore on an enchanted island where the rapidly growing tsar’s son saves a swan from the clutches of a wizard. In gratitude, the swan helps Gvidon to visit his native country once again in the guise of a bumblebee. Three wishes, three miracles and three bee-stings later, father and son are finally able to get to know each other.

‘A beautiful song – a shame that it shows such disrespect to the Mayor!’ This remark from the score of The Golden Cockerel highlights the delicious ambiguity of this work. Principally inspired by Washington Irving and Pushkin, Rimsky-Korsakov called on the talents of Vladimir Belsky, an author of other libretti of a fairy-tale, legendary nature and an expert on Russian folk literature. The composer, a genius at orchestration, has given us sparkling music, with oriental touches, that creates fully rounded characters. This is the perfect occasion for Alain Altinoglu to direct his first opera in his new role as Music Director of La Monnaie. After the success of his Don Quichotte and Cendrillon, Laurent Pelly returns to La Monnaie to stage this exuberant political satire, an adventure in unrestrained rhythm. More than a century has passed since its first performance, yet the opera has lost none of its boisterous sarcasm.