À l'extrême bord du monde

Lila Hajosi, mezzo-soprano (Lotte Zweig)

Valentin Thill, tenor (Stefan Zweig)

Aurora Piano Quartet

Sophie van der Stegen, dramaturgy

Jacques de Decker, booklet

Mien Bogaert, artistic conception & staging

Benjamien Lycke, video

Coproduction DE MUNT / LA MONNAIE, CHAPELLE MUSICALE REINE ELISABETH

Petropolis, 22 February 1942. Writer Stefan Zweig and his wife Lotte are having a chat in their favourite café. Far from their “spiritual homeland Europe”, the Austrian couple are preparing for another departure: a goodbye that will shake up and divide the intellectual and literary world, while also sealing the fate of these two lonely souls. “Of their own will and in clear mind”, they decide to commit suicide together.

The young Belgian composer Harold Noben wrote a chamber opera for mezzo, tenor and piano quintet about these tragic final days. His piece was formed with the help of Benoît Mernier and the support of the European Network of Opera Academies (enoa). La Monnaie presents the result of this unique collaboration. A one time semi-scenic performance on October 4, by artists-in-residence of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

enoa et le programme Europe Créative de l’Union Européenne ont soutenu les premières étapes de création de ce projet à la Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth