Opera

Lear

Aribert Reimann

26 Jan, 24 - 07 Feb, 24

Musical conductor: Asher Fisch | Stage direction: Calixto Bieito | Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real

Based on William Shakespeare's King Lear, this opera composed by Aribert Reimann is premiered for the first time in Spain by Calixto Bieito. A powerful opera in which the legendary baritone Bo Skovhus plays the title role.

Hector Berlioz, Giuseppe Verdi, and Claude Debussy, among others, tried, but no one dared taking on the elderly king of William Shakespeare. The suggestion of this subject for an opera about King Lear by the legendary and persevering baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau overwhelmed Aribert Reimann as well. Nonetheless, that did not stop his head filling with music, to the point of living the composition process as a real obsession.

Reimann agreed with his librettist to preserve the essence of the original text, substantially reducing it to leave space for the music as the real heart of the drama. The result is a score that has an abrasive, fresh sound, but remains respectful of the tempo lirico and the vocal lines, to present a complete opera experience. It is also a support for the issues of filial ingratitude, mental health, the passing of time, or the loss of power which feed this savage and pessimistic drama. One in which the most basic emotional instincts are close to the surface and dominate the different characters, pushing them to the limit and driving them to the final terrible massacre.

Opera in two parts

Music by Aribert Reimann (1936)

Libretto by Claus Hennberg, based on King Lear (1605) by William Shakespeare

Premiere at Nationaltheater in Múnich on 9 July 1978

Premiere at the Teatro Real

Production from Opéra National de Paris

Artistic Team

Musical conductor: Asher Fisch

Stage direction: Calixto Bieito

Set design: Rebecca Ringst

Costumes: Ingo Krügler

Lighting: Franck Evin

Video: Sarah Derendinger

Dramaturgy: Bettina Auer

Chorus master: José Luis Basso

Cast

King Lear: Bo Skovhus

King of France: Torben Jürgens

Duke of Albany: Derek Welton

Duke of Cornwall: Michael Colvin

Count of Kent: Kor-Jan Dusseljee

Count of Gloucester: Lauri Vasar

Edgar: Andrew Watts

Edmund: Andreas Conrad

Goneril: Ángeles Blancas

Regan: Erika Sunnegårdh

Cordelia: Susanne Elmark

Fool: Ernst Alisch

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real

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Synopsis of Lear

En Escocia, en la Edad Media, el rey Lear quiso conocer el grado de afecto de sus tres hijas para, una vez él abdicara, pasarle el trono a la que más le quisiera. Dos de ellas se deshicieron en halagos hacia su padre mientras que la menor le contestó que le quería como padre y nada más. Al rey Lear esto no le pareció suficiente y la castigó, pero con el paso del tiempo pasó a demostrar que ella era la única digna para el trono y después de una guerra con sus hermanas, lo consiguió.