A scene from Lulu, photo: Bernd Uhlig / La Monnaie
Krzysztof Warlikowski’s staging of Alban Berg's Lulu at La Monnaie is available for viewing through the Belgian opera house’s streaming channel. The production, premiered on the 14th of October, received enthusiastic reviews in the local and international press
In the new production of Alban Berg’s Lulu, hidden frustrations and fears of men find expression in their violence towards the woman who, in Krzysztof Warlikowski’s version, is depicted as a creature on a borderline with childhood dreams about achieving a form of infinity through the discipline of classical ballet. The opera contains startling contrasts between an ideal of purity, imaginary perfection and a reality imposing its savagery until murder is finally committed. The Viennese composer's extraordinary second opera– unfinished at the time of his death in 1935 – is presented with third-act orchestration that was completed by Friedrich Cerha in 1979.
Warlikowski’s adaptation of Berg’s opera was described by Le Soir as "Subject to choreography, very readable, with an incredibly powerful esthetic." The popular Belgian newspaper further commented that "these elements are gathered here to tear humanity apart, all with the cut of a surgical knife."
Lulu is the second Berg production directed by Warlikowski, after his the staging of Wozzeck in 2006 for the National Opera in Warsaw. The production featured Barbara Hannigan as Lulu, with musical direction by Paul Daniel, conducting the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra.
Watch the streaming of Lulu by clicking here: http://www.lamonnaie.be
In La Monnaie’s interview, conducted by Christian Longchamp, Warlikowski reveals what led him to place an emphasis on dance and classical ballet in the production:
In order to answer that question, I would first like to mention Berg's biography and his daughter Albine. We know that until the age of four, she lived in an orphanage until her mother Marie (the same name which Berg later gave to the mother of Wozzeck's child) got married to a relatively poor man who raised her. (…) This marriage allowed her to access a world which had been closed to her during her life in poverty with her mother and step-father. (…) I imagine that Albine's interest in art increased tenfold when she found out that she was the daughter of a composer. A natural father who was absent and invisible; both an idol and a devil who did not want to see her. It was this fantasy figure who probably pushed this adolescent in the direction of art. She probably dreamt of becoming an artist in order to be something in the eyes of her father. And it was probably not a coincidence that Berg's Lulu is a young woman without parents who dreams of becoming a dancer.(…) During her sad adolescence, Lulu probably fantasised about being admired for her talent and beauty. Since the release of Aronofsky's The Black Swan, a large number of young girls have joined dance schools because they saw the film and dream of becoming ‘prima ballerinas’. Swan Lake has become a pop phenomenon. It is fascinating to see thousands of adolescent girls adopt such a strict and disciplined lifestyle because they dream of the absolute.
Commenting on special characteristics he would attribute to Lulu, Warlikowski explained:
There are two main options. The first is to stay with tradition and to present the woman as a demon and society as a victim trying to rid itself of her. The second is to depict a chauvinist and vulgar society which lays into a woman who, in this case, is the victim – all the more so if she is presented in a very human way. It is obviously the second option which interests me.
Born in 1962, Krzysztof Warlikowski is one of Poland's most inventive theatre directors. He studied history, Romance languages and philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow; attended a seminar on Classical theatre at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, and studied philosophy and French language and literature at the Sorbonne. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Directing of the National Academy of Theatre of Krakow, where he studied under the guidance of Krystian Lupa.
Editor: SRS
Source: La Monnaie, press release