Melancholy Of Resistance

A small town is mired in lethargy. Functions of daily life have become unpredictable and the future holds little hope. But the arrival of a mysterious circus with bizarre figures promises distraction. The main attraction is a duke with three eyes. But it’s not about entertainment: He intends to destroy the people of the city...

The libretto by Guillaume Métayer is based on the eponymous 1989 novel by the Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, who, as the narrator of the apocalypse, created a black parable about the contemporary situation in Eastern Europe. The French composer Marc-André Dalbavie is considered a representative of spectral music. His works shape the process of opening up contemporary music to different musical expressions. The importance of timbre, as well as the sensory experience at the heart of all his work, is also a characteristic feature of this piece. Hungarian director David Marton has developed a film opera for the premiere, in which the lines between reality and fiction blur.

Program and cast

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Marie Jacquot
DIRECTOR: David Marton
SET DESIGN: Amber Vandenhoeck
COSTUMES: Pola Kardum
LIGHT: Miriam Damm
VIDEO: Chris Kondek
DRAMATURGY: Franziska Baur, Detlef Giese

GEORGES ESTHER: Matthias Klink
ANGÈLE ESTHER: Tanja Ariane Baumgartner
ROSI PFLAUM: Sandrine Piau
JÁNOS VALOUCHKA: Philippe Jaroussky
THE CHIEF OF THE POLICE / THE BUILDING PAINTER (TRINKER 1): Sébastien Dutrieux
NOTABLE VOLENT / HAGELMAYER, TENANCIER OF THE TAVERN “LE PÉFEFFER: Roman Trekel
NOTABLE NADABAN: Christian Oldenburg
NOTABLE MADAI: David Oštrek
SERGUEI “MOND” / TRINKER 2: Viktor Rud
THE CIRCUS DIRECTOR: Jan Martiník
THE DOCTOR / TRINKER 3: Ulf Dirk Mädler
THE WOMAN AT THE SORTING CENTER: Anna Kissjudit
SOLDIER 1: Taehan Kim
SOLDIER 2: Adam Kutny
SOLDIER 3: Florian Hoffmann

Recommended age: 16 years and older