Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales
United Kingdom
WNO
Cast includes
Lulu Marie Arnet
Countess Geschwitz Natascha Petrinsky
Wardrobe Mistress/Schoolboy Patricia Orr
Doctor Schön/Jack the Ripper Ashley Holland
Alwa Peter Hoare
Artist/Negro Mark le Brocq
Schigolch Richard Angas
Prince/Manservant/Marquis Alan Oke
Athlete / Acrobat Julian Close
Free Spirits is the first of our themed seasons. It brings together two of the greatest operas of the 20th century, Janáček’s The Cunning little Vixen and Berg’s Lulu. Both pieces pose profound questions about how much freedom we desire and how much we can tolerate and still remain a functioning society.
She is a vision of freedom too pure to be allowed to last.
Everyone is drawn to Lulu, intoxicated by her; those in her thrall are like moths to a flame. Her flame burns bright and fast but sooner or later it will be extinguished by the very things it once fed upon.
Berg’s second and final opera is a masterpiece – total theatre. Anyone wishing to see the greatest works in the repertoire must include Lulu in their list. Few composers invite their audiences unflinchingly to confront humanity’s darkest regions in the way that Berg does here. Lulu promises a shattering but rewarding experience for those who encounter it.
Welsh National Opera has an important association with this great composer’s work: WNO gave the first British performances of Lulu in the 1970s and won acclaim and awards for our 2005 production of Wozzeck. David Pountney is one of the world’s most influential opera directors. This production of Lulu is his first new production in his role as our Chief Executive and Artistic Director.
Supported by the WNO Partnership, the WNO Lulu Circle and The John S Cohen Foundation. Spring 2013 Season supported by a lead gift from the Colwinston Charitable Trust.
Performances also on 16th and 23rd February.Alban Berg : Lulu
