Echo 72
Sandra Then

(Hi)stories on the opera stage

History has always fired the imagination of opera composers. In addition to finding inspiration in countless novels, folk tales or other fiction, composers have put real-life generals, queens and political figures of our time centre stage – portraying them as grotesque, heroically 'enhanced', psychologically fallible or just very human.

Over the past few months, OperaVision has presented a series of operas – including one modern classic and three world premieres – which deal in very different ways with events in the recent history of the 20th and 21st centuries, and which give us a taste of the variety of ‘historical’ operas of our time.

Nixon in China
Feature

(Hi)stories on the opera stage

International relations, patriotism, terror and the climate crisis. To give voice to the conflicts of our time, opera composers like to draw on specific historical events. OperaVision provides an insight into the diverse spectrum of new ‘historical' operas.

264, That One Star
Copyright
Kim Ji Yong
Performance
Daegu Opera House

264, That One Star

When it falls to a poet to find words to stir a revolution.

Nixon in China
Copyright
Valter Berecz
Performance
Hungarian State Opera

Nixon in China

‘News has a kind of mystery’ in this mesmerising take on late 20th century history.

Echo 72
Copyright
Sandra Then
Performance
Staatsoper Hannover

Echo 72

Echoing the tragic events of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

The Shell Trial
Copyright
Marco Borggreve
Performance
Dutch National Opera & Ballet

The Shell Trial

The climate crisis is above all a crisis of responsibility.