Lulu at La Monnaie

The nuptials of eros and thanatos unveil their irresistible attraction in this second opera of Alban Berg who, following Wozzeck, describes the sometimes bright and often bestial intensity of human relations. Intoxicatingly enigmatic and deadly for those close to her, Lulu’s secret goes with her unto death. From the folly of love to the humiliation of vulgarity, she incites the excess. She unhinges reality… Frank Wedekind’s work provided fertile ground for the composer to create this striking opera, considered one of the major works of the 20th century, but which remained unfinished due to his untimely death in 1935. After his productions of Médée and Macbeth, Krzysztof Warlikowski once again delves the innermost depths of the human psyche and chooses to tackle Lulu as a deeply moving requiem ‘to the memory of an angel’. He gives us the original three-act version by Alban Berg of this opera, conducted by Lothar Koenigs.

Authors

• Frank Wedekind
• Gary Levinson
• Ross Alexander