Lear at Hungarian State Opera, Opera House

Contemporary composer Aribert Reimann's reworking of the tale of King Lear, perhaps Shakespeare's darkest tragedy, is an opera of extraordinary tension, provocative to the end and with a unique musical style. Reimann has always been attracted to serious and challenging philosophical literary works that struggle with existential problems: his other highly successful opera, The Castle, is based on the novel by Franz Kafka. In 2011, in recognition for his life's work, he received the Ernst von Siemens prize, which has often been dubbed the Nobel Prize for Music.

The story of the father who divides his realm, and then suffers the cruelty of his daughters and the persecutions of fate – which speaks simultaneously about the disintegration of the world around us, the sharp and destructive clash between generations, and a moral crisis that expands into a state of existence – is being brought to the stage by Ferenc Anger, based on the legendary production by director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.