Until the Lions
Thierry Pécou
World premiere.
New production by the OnR.
In celebration of 50 years of the OnR.
Three-act opera with a prologue.
Libretto by Karthika Naïr.
Partly adapted from her book Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata.
Infos
Mulhouse
La Filature
Strasbourg
Opéra
Duration: 90 mins, no interval.
With the support of Fidelio.
Cast
Music Director Marie Jacquot Stage Director Shobana Jeyasingh Decor and costumes Merle Hensel Lighting Floriaan Ganzevoort CCN • Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin, Chœur de l'Opéra national du Rhin, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse
Artists
Satyavati Fiona Tong Bhishma Cody Quattlebaum Amba Noa Frenkel Female war witnesses, courtesans Mirella Hagen, Anaïs Yvoz
Presentation
In the game of thrones, yesterday’s victors are often tomorrow’s underdogs. When the king of Kashi organizes the ceremony of Svayamvara and its challenges for his three daughters in search of suitors, he neglects to invite the royal family of Hastinapur, an oversight that enrages Queen Satyavati who is eager to find a match for her son Vichitravirya. In vengeance she sends her stepson, chaste warrior Bheeshma, who defeats every suitor and abducts the three princesses. Only Amba, a free and independent spirit, cannot be beaten to submission. Humiliated by Bheeshma, she swears to kill him in this life or the next, even if it means becoming a man and taking up arms.
The Mahabharata is a vast Sanskrit epic focusing on the feats and battles of two branches of the same royal family descended from Emperor Bharata, the legendary founder of India. Poet Karthika Naïr presents her fresh, updated version, giving voice to female characters usually ignored. French composer Thierry Pécou wrote the score of this mythical and spiritual fresco in a world premiere directed by Indian choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh.
In English
Overtitled in French, German
