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Video on demand: Moses and Aron

Watch online on play.operadeparis.frOpéra national de ParisRecorded at Opéra national de Paris: Opéra Bastille, Paris, France
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Dates/times in your browser's time zone
On demand until Monday 31 August 2026 23:59
Performers
Opéra national de Paris
Philippe JordanConductor
Romeo CastellucciDirector, Set Designer, Costume Designer, Lighting Designer
Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris
Christian LongchampDramaturgy
Piersandra Di MatteoDramaturgy
Cindy Van AckerChoreography
Chœurs de l'Opéra national de Paris
Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine
Chœur d'enfants de l'Opéra National de Paris
Jose Luis BassoChoirmaster / chorus director
Thomas Johannes MayerBaritoneMoses
John Graham-HallTenorAron
Julie DaviesSopranoYoung Maiden, First Naked Virgin
Catherine Wyn-RogersMezzo-sopranoSick woman
Nicky SpenceTenorYoung Man
Chae Wook LimBassAnother Man
Christopher PurvesBaritoneEphraimite
Ralf LukasBassPriest
Maren FavelaSopranoSecond Naked Virgin
Valentina KutzarovaMezzo-sopranoThird Naked Virgin
Elena SuvorovaContraltoFourth Naked Virgin

"Unimaginable, because invisible, because immeasurable, because infinite, because eternal, because omnipresent, because almighty."
- Moses und Aron, Act I, scene 2

“I have at last learned the lesson forced on me last year, and I shall not forget it. I am neither a German nor a European, and perhaps barely human, but I am a Jew.”

Despite having converted to Protestantism in his youth, Schönberg was the target of anti-Semitic attacks from 1921 onwards. Shaken by such virulence, he decided to return to his roots while developing a highly personalised interpretation of the Old Testament.

What initially started out as a cantata soon took on the dimensions of an oratorio. The project became a philosophical opera that pitted not only two brothers, Moses and Aron, against each other, but also radicalism and compromise, muddled discourse and lyric effusion to the backdrop of a fickle community personified by a particularly massive chorus.

“Oh word, word that I lack!” That last phrase, uttered by Moses, sums up the prophet’s tragic weakness but also expresses the composer’s inability to overcome his own contradictions.

Officially converting back to Judaism in Paris shortly before seeking refuge in the United States, the inventor of dodecaphonism was plagued by an almost existential inability during the last two decades of his life: that of completing Moses und Aron.

Philippe Jordan conducts this masterpiece along with the full musical forces of the Paris Opera and Romeo Castellucci makes his much awaited debut on the stage of the Opera Bastille.

Reviews of Moses and Aron directed by Romeo Castellucci

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