On March 3, the opera "Ariane et Barbe-Bleue" by Paul Dukas premieres at the Graz Opera. Roland Kluttig took over the musical direction of the new production at short notice.

 

The French-language opera revolves around the Duke Bluebeard and his bride Ariane, who cannot resist the temptation  to open the door to a chamber forbidden by Bluebeard. There she discovers a secret that has more to do with herself than she ever feared. A merry-go-round of hunches, memories and traumatic encounters sets in motion and pulls the viewer deeper and deeper into the darkest chamber of the castle until there seems to be only one way out.

 

In the opera, which premiered in 1907, Dukas succeeded in creating an atmospherically dense and darkly sensual interpretation of the well-known myth about a murderer of women and a horrible secret. In the archaically charged stage created by set designer Katrin Lea Tag, who recently enjoyed great success in Amsterdam and Paris, and directed by young director Nadja Loschky, the demons of the past awaken around Manuela Uhl, who embodies the role of Ariane.

 

Roland Kluttig made his debut at the Graz Opera in the 2016/17 season with Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.