La Monnaie: Mikael Karlsson’s Fanny and Alexander

This winter, Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece will come to life on the opera stage, in a creation by composer Mikael Karlsson and librettist Royce Vavrek.

Ingmar Bergman’s semi-autobiographical film Fanny och Alexander (1982) will come 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 will turn 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, will dig deep into the soul of his characters and, together with scenographer Jan Versweyveld, will create scenes that gradually unfold into a spectral hall of mirrors. A fantasy world that stubbornly goes against harsh reality – and may ultimately overcome it.

Genre Opera
Recording location Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels
Recording date 13.12.2024
Duration approx. 160'
Video format 4K/UHD
Production Company La Monnaie, EuroArts Music
TV Director Simon van Rompay
Distribution TV EuroArts Music
English title of music work Fanny and Alexander
Composer Mikael Karlsson
Orchestra / Band La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Ariane Matiakh
Stage Director Ivo van Hove
Libretto Royce Vavrek
Soloist with Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Hampson and others