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When the mischief of supernatural beings gets involved, and the magic of woodland fairies alights carelessly on the wrong recipient – especially when it’s a night of “midsummer madness” – William Shakespeare seizes the spell and dreams up his excellent comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which he had performed in London shortly before 1600.
This magic is contagious. A dream-like poetic breeze blew its way through time to Benjamin Britten, who composed one of the finest 20th century operas. The libretto, which the composer wrote with tenor Peter Pears, skilfully condenses Shakespeare’s plot into three acts and preserves his incomparable verse. Finally performed at the Opéra de Lausanne for the very first time, this work, whose music illuminates the lyricism of the English bard, bewitches the ear with its sensuality. Through sound, the inventiveness and expressiveness of its impressionistic orchestration bring to life various worlds that rub shoulders with each other: four dreamy lovers are criss-crossed into confusion, fairies quarrel, an elf has fun, and shy workmen try their hand at putting on a play with hilarious results.
Laurent Pelly completes the enchantment with this marvellous production that marks his return to the Opéra de Lausanne, more than 20 years after his legendary staging of The Tales of Hoffmann, which has since been performed the world over. A staging dream that plays on all the theatre’s tricks and creates the illusion of a timeless dream.
First performance June 11, 1960, at Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh
Boosey & Hawkes Editions
Canadian-born Marie-Eve Munger won 1st prize for opera at the Marmande Competition. She made her debut at the Opéra de Metz in the roles of Ophelia (Hamlet) and Nannetta (Falstaff), and took part in the premiere of Pastorale at the Théâtre du Châtelet, where she went on to star in Villa-Lobos’ Magdalena in 2010. Her career launched in the USA and Europe, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan and at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in Vierte Madg (Elektra, directed by Patrice Chéreau), a role she reprised at the Liceu in Barcelona and at the BBC Proms in London, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. She was Lakmé in Saint-Étienne and in concert in Munich, Isabelle (Le Pré aux Clercs by Ferdinand Hérold), Princess Elsbeth (Fantasio) and Musette in “Bohème notre jeunesse” at the Opéra Comique. More recently, she was Ophélie in Nantes and Rennes, Countess Adèle (Le Comte Ory) and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) in Toulon, and La Fée (Cendrillon) at the Chicago Lyric Opera. Attached to the contemporary repertoire, she took part in the premiere of Guillaume Vincent’s The Second Woman at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, and played La Fée in Philippe Boesmans’ Pinocchio in Aix-en-Provence, La Monnaie de Munt and Dijon. At the Festival Musica in Strasbourg, she can be heard in a work by Mauro Lanza, and in Judith et le Cantique de Pâques by Honegger in Utrecht. More recently, she has appeared as Le Rossignol (Die Vögel by Walter Braun-fels) in Strasbourg, Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) in Lille, La Reine de la Nuit in Strasbourg, La Fée et Arlette (Die Fledermaus) in Limoges, Adina (L’elisir d’amore) at the Florentine Opera (USA). Other projects include the title role in Auber’s Manon Lescaut at the Teatro Regio in Turin and Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in Saint-Étienne.
At Opéra de Lausanne: My Fair Lady (2015), Ariadne auf Naxos (2019) and Le Domino noir (2023)