La Monnaie: Karlsson: Fanny and Alexander

Ingmar Bergman’s semi-autobiographical film "Fanny och Alexander" (1982) comes to life on the opera stage, in a creation by composer Mikael Karlsson and librettist Royce Vavrek. Stage director is Ivo van Hove. A grandiose family chronicle demands grandiose means.
For her debut at La Monnaie, conductor Ariane Matiakh turns her attention to a score that combines the acoustic sound of a symphony orchestra with ingenious surround electronics, commanding a cast of fourteen soloists, among whom none other than Thomas Hampson and Anne Sofie von Otter. Director Ivo van Hove, who is intimately familiar with Bergman’s work, digs deep into the soul of his characters and, together with scenographer Jan Versweyveld,  creates scenes that gradually unfold into a spectral hall of mirrors. A fantasy world that stubbornly goes against harsh reality – and may ultimately overcome it.