Un Ballo in maschera
Melodramma in tre atti (1856-1858)
Libretto di Antonio Somma
Premiere Teatro Apollo, Roma, 17/2/1859
Approximate running time: 2 hours 50′ (including 1 interval)
Pre-performance talks half an hour before the start of the performances by Delphine Berryer (in French) and by Serge Algoet (in Dutch).
‘È scherzo od è follia ?’ A joke or pure madness, or is one really looking into the future in Un Ballo in maschera ? This work is a masterpiece of variety, of the fusion of differing stylistic elements, a work that relates first to the French opera comique and then to the Italian dramatic style, with characters who are among the most powerful Verdi ever created. The censor forced Verdi to switch from the original historical context – the murder of the Swedish king during a masked ball in 1792 – to the Boston of the 17th century, but his human and political message is no less forceful. The director Alex Ollé and his company La Fura dels Baus set the action in the near future, in the atmosphere of Orwell’s 1984, where power is totalitarian, while all the characters wear their masks throughout the performance in a bankrupt society founded on hypocrisy.
New production
| Production La Monnaie / De Munt |
| Co-production Opera Australia (Sidney), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Den Norske Opera (Oslo) |
| With the support of The National Lottery |
| In collaboration with Valentina Carrasco |
Un Ballo in maschera
Concept ¦ Alex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus)
Music direction ¦ Carlo Rizzi
Director ¦ Alex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus)
Set design ¦ Alfons Flores
Costumes ¦ Lluc Castells
Lighting ¦ Urs Schönebaum
Video ¦ Emmanuel Carlier
Chorus direction ¦ Martino Faggiani
Gustav III ¦ Stefano Secco (12, 15, 17, 20, 23 & 26 May)
Riccardo Massi (13, 16, 19, 21, 26 & 27 May)
René Ankarström ¦ George Petean (12, 15, 17, 20, 23 & 26 May)
Scott Hendricks (13, 16, 19, 21, 24 & 27 May)
Amelia ¦ María José Siri (12, 15, 17, 20, 23 & 26 May)
Monica Zanettin (13, 16, 19, 21, 24 & 27 May)
Ulrica Arfvidsson ¦ Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Oscar ¦ Kathleen Kim (12, 15, 17, 20 & 23 May)
Ilse Eerens (13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 26 & 27 May)
Cristiano ¦ Roberto Accurso
Ribbing ¦ Tijl Faveyts
Horn ¦ Carlo Cigni
Un Giudice ¦ Zeno Popescu
Un Servo ¦ Pierre Derhet
Orchestra & chorus ¦ La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
12, 13*, 15, 16*, 17, 19*, 20, 21*, 23, 24*, 26* & 27* May
Opera, My Love Magazine 
How stupid, base, and ignorant does “Regietheater” have to get before the timid public screams, “Enough! Hercules, clean the stables” !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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