Jerusalem Lyric Opera

27th May 2023

G.Bizet Carmen

Georges Bizet`s opus has existed for almost a century and a half and is one of the leaders in the modern operatic repertoire. Comparing the performances of different years and in different countries, one can see not only the diverse and colorful world of incarnations of an operatic masterpiece but also reflections of a specific historical time.

Carmen:Love and Freedom
Premiered in France in 1875, Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen (with libretto by Henri Meilhax and Ludovic Halévy, based on a novella by Prosper Mérimée) provided audiences with a main character who is not only aware of her sexuality but who knows how to use it as a source of power and self-satisfaction. Carmen is often viewed as an ambiguous protagonist of questionable morals embody a triple threat toward male characters in the opera.
For stage director Rocc "the famous story of the seductive gypsy woman is basically a social drama that raises the question of free love as a momentary unbridled passion, versus jealousy and revenge inevitably leading to destruction. Carmen and her lover, Don José, live two diametrically different lives: he is an orderly soldier aiming at an idyllic family life in the countryside, and she is a free spirit attracted to spontaneous life on the edge of society. The clash of two archetypes: orderly and rational logic versus uncivilized and chaotic exoticism. When the two worlds meet, they mutually excite each other, but as a result, they necessarily nullify each other. The conflict between normative-dogmatic social systems and free-thinking primal human instincts, as well as the eternal motive of passionate love, are no less different and relevant today." Conductor Paolo Spadaro brings together such illustrious colleagues as Marta Matalon, Alin Stoica, Michal Partyka, and others.

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26th May 2023

All opera production at JLOF

Surrealism is one of the most striking trends in the art of the twentieth century, marked by the emergence of new images, concepts, and artistic and aesthetic canons. Anri Breton in The Second Manifesto of Surrealism (1929) proclaims the need "to overcome the senseless separation of alleged opposites (beautiful and ugly, true and false) to which civilizations and societies that care about the perpetuation of violence are so devoted” Sofia Mazar, musical director of the Festival, chose the theme of surrealism, with its aesthetics based on the constant “playing” of the two worlds, where the reality of untrue everyday life and the reality of true dreams collide” as the theme of this year’s Festival.

Alcina`s magical and insincerity world

Handel`s Alchina (1735), a beautiful world that lives only at the request of the sorceress Alchina, is contradictory. The naturalness, and insincerity of the "wonderful place" come into conflict with each other and, in the end, become the cause of its death. It is no coincidence that the island of Alchina does not emerge from the fog, we do not approach it but collide with it suddenly and it is no coincidence that the stage director Katya Korabelnik interprets the opera as an illusory carnival in which adults play like children, and love and passion serve as toys for them. Conductor Ethan Schmeisser already conducted Alcina in 2022 at the Israeli Opera. For the scenic performance at the Jerusalem Festival, he brings together such amazing colleagues as Veronica Kurmanov, Giorgi Cucovsky, Johannes Czernin, and others.

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18th Feb 2023

Introducing... Alcina

Jerusalem Lyric Opera Festival 2023 will see Alcina`s first production, directed by Katia Korabelnik and conducted by Ethan Schmeisser. Alcina is a philosophical parable about the vicissitudes of love and the delusions of reason. This story can be interpreted in any way, as a children`s fairy tale about brave heroes who defeated an evil sorceress, as an enchanting baroque performance, or as a psychological drama. Brief introduction The opera`s setting is the enchantress Alcina`s island: here by her magic powers she has created a magnificent palace in a beautiful landscape, to lure her many lovers into her power. One of these is Ruggiero, a warrior, who under Alcina`s spell has forsaken his duty and his betrothed, Bradamante. When we first meet Alcina in Act I’s beautiful, regal, “Di, cor mio” (“Tell them, dear heart”), she demonstrates no hint of her awful side but appears in this enraptured music to be simply a woman in love with Ruggiero.