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.
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
Synopsis of Lear
Releases
Protective Friend
06 November
2023Supporter and Benefactor Friend
07 November
2023Patron friends, Family Friend and Young Friend
08 November
2023Subscribers friend and young non-friends
09 November
2023Tickets on sale
10 November
2023Performances
- Date/hour
- Space
- Cast
- Subscription ticket
26 January 2024
19:30
Main Auditorium
29 January 2024
19:30
Main Auditorium
31 January 2024
19:30
Main Auditorium
03 February 2024
19:30
Main Auditorium
05 February 2024
19:30
Main Auditorium
07 February 2024
19:30
Main Auditorium
Are you an Amigo del Teatro Real yet?
Live the Teatro Real experience beyond its wonderful productions and you will contribute to elevating our institutional project.