JAKOB LENZ
Wolfgang Rihm (1952)
Libretto by Michael Fröhling, based on the novel "Lenz" by Georg Büchner
First performed the 8th of March 1979 in Hamburg
Coproduction of Staatsoper Stuttgart, Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie (Brussels), Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin)
He did everything like everybody else; but there was an appalling void in him, he did not have any fear, or any desire; his existence for him was a necessary burden. It was thus that he continued to live.
Georg Büchner: Lenz, 18391776, in the mists of the Vosges, a silhouette is wandering on the mountain. This man on the edge of folly is Jakob Lenz, poet whose tumultuous plays gave its fanatical impetus to the pre-romantic movement known as Sturm und Drang. Lenz found refuge in the home of a clergyman of an Alsatian village and attempted to escape the madness which would end up getting the better of him. In 1835, struck by the fate of this cursed poet, Georg Büchner recounts the episode in a dazzling short story. In 1979, the German composer Wolfgang Rihm wrote an opera after Büchner’s short story, a heady score and powerfully suggestive. In 2019, the immense stage director Andrea Breth will make her French debut by presenting her vision of Rihm’s Jacob Lenz at the Festival d’Aix, in a visionary spectacle which obtained the Faust Prize, the highest distinction in German theatre.
- Diapason
A triumph signed by a 25 year old composer who dipped his pen into the demented spleen of the « Sturm und Drang » poet, friend of Goethe.
Powerful, spot-on directing from Andrea Breth, right up to the silhouettes that haunt the anti-hero. - Lalibre.be
A powerful work, an exceptional production and unparalleled musicians. Not one false note.
The role of Lenz is carried, embodied, magnified from start to finish by baritone Georg Nigl, whose commitment to the role is equal to the subject and his cruel questionings. - ResMusica
Lenz is played here radiantly and with a boundless physical energy by Georg Nigl, one of the trailblazers of contemporary musical theatre, whose warm and expressive voice keeps its musicality even in the most expressive moments. - Opera-online.com
Extraordinary directing of the actors that essentially rests upon the shoulders of Georg Nigl, who single-handedly carries the show. This extraordinary Austrian baritone […] identifies heart and soul with his character: he literally lives the role inside out, to the point of exhaustion […]. A performance that left the audience of La Monnaie simply stunned!
Prices: 190€, 165€, 120€, 80€, 55€, 30€
Young person's tariff: 9€
Family Opera tariffs
Performance available with ticket packages 100% opera or 100% creation and Premium or Prestige offer
1 hour and 15 minutes without interval
Sung in German with French and English surtitles
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