Schönberg: Gurre-Lieder

Rarely has a theatrical world premiere been so warmly received as Dutch National Opera’s production of Arnold Schönberg’s late-Romantic Gurre-Lieder in 2014. The production fulfilled a fervent wish of principal conductor Marc Albrecht. The music of Gurre-Lieder is timeless, and so is its subject: a passionate, yet forbidden love. The story harks back to a Scandinavian saga, situated in Gurre. King Waldemar loves the girl Tove, who is a mysterious character, connected to both the world of people and the world of birds. The queen is jealous and has Tove killed. The Wood Dove tells of this in a moving song and the king accuses God of cruelty. A nightmarish scene follows, of a fierce army killed in battle, which rampages like a horde of ghosts. The radiant dawn at the end of Gurre-Lieder shows the insignificance of human destiny compared to the power of nature.

• Release date
• June 1, 2019
• Runtime
• 140 min
• Director
• Pierre Audi

Cast

B

Burkhard Fritz Waldemar

E

Emily Magee Tove Anna Larsson Waldtaube

M

Markus Marquardt Bauer Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke Klaus Narr Sunnyi Melles Narrator