Overview: Two pairs of young lovers, more or less frustrated, flee into the woods to escape conventions and demands and to find their true selves. But the forest is a place not only of freedom, fancy and dreams but also nightmares, chaos and folly. This is the domain of Oberon and his queen Titania, who are in the middle of a marital crisis so serious that nature itself is in a state of imbalance. With his lifelong companion Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten transformed Shakespeare’s play into an operatic libretto and wrote its beautiful, enchanting music. Sorcery, entanglements and distorted perceptions of reality mean that everything is turned upside down for those seeking love in the woods. In Royal Swedish Opera’s new production of Shakespeare’s comic fantasy, a forest is more a psychological location than a physical one. Under the baton of Simon Crawford Phillips and stage direction of Tobias Theorell, the merry tale is transformed into an exploration of the subconscious.

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Overview: After interrupting her career following a traumatic performance of an opera written especially for her, an aging singer is now preparing for her return. Will this woman torn between a dream of the stage and a dream of love be able to achieve her goal? Written as a tribute to Romantic opera, Prima Donna is the first venture into opera by Rufus Wainwright, better known for his career in pop. Here we discover a self-destructive diva, inspired by Maria Callas. There is something ridiculous about the faded star, but through our admiration she will shine forever.

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