Film

Hans Werner Henze: The Bassarids

2019 · 2h 45m · Music

The opera, inspired by Euripides’ tragedy The Bacchae, is as seductive as it is topical: When Dionysus – is he a charlatan? is he a demigod? – bursts into the intact world of ancient Thebes, he plunges a city into chaos. In stark contrast to his cousin, King Pentheus, who leads a life marked by purity and asceticism, Dionysus preaches intoxicating excess and sensuality. Aware of the story’s political dimension that resonates in present day politics, Krzysztof Warlikowski brings one of his famed psychological stagings to the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg. In the gigantic three-part set of Malgorzata Szczesniak the captivating tale unfolds like a film using split-screen techniques .

Sean Panikkar

Dionysus

Russell Braun

Pentheus

Willard White

Cadmus

Nikolai Schukoff

Tiresias/ Calliope

Tanja Ariane Baumgartner

Agave/Venus

Kàroly Szemerèdy

Captain/Adonis

Vera-Lotte Böcker

Autonoe/Proserpine

Anna Maria Dur

Beroe

Rolsalba Torres Guerrero

Bassarid - Dancer

• Krzysztof WarlikowskiDirector
• Tiziano ManciniDirector
• W.H. AudenWriter
• Chester KallmanWriter
• Hans Werner HenzeOriginal Music Composer

THE BASSARIDS (Trailer) | Composed by: Hans Werner Henze | Kent Nagano | Salzburger Festspiele

Release date

October 11, 2019

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

2h 45m

Genres

Music