A manifesto against war: Dubugnon première impresses in Brussels

By Marc Haegeman, 27 November 2018

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“it was Napoleon rather than Prometheus that seemed to have the final word”

Reviewed at BOZAR: Main hall, Brussels on 25 November 2018

Beethoven, Symphony no. 1 in C major, Op.21

Dubugnon, Tombeau de Napoléon, Op.81 (création mondiale)

Beethoven, Symphony no. 3 in E flat major "Eroica", Op.55

Jan Smets, Trombone

La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra

Alain Altinoglu, Conductor

Benvenuto Cellini: Strassberger loses the plot at La Monnaie

No’a L. bat Miri, 28th January

Thaddeus Strassberger’s Brussels debut presents Berlioz's opera semiseria with plenty of good music but far more visual noise.

***11

Verdi caught in La Monnaie's revolving door

Eleanor Knight, 22nd March

A marathon double bill using music from Verdi's early operas largely falls flat in Brussels.

**111

Black Swan: Barbara Hannigan returns in Warlikowski's Lulu

Kevin W Ng, 18th November

Barbara Hannigan is better than ever in Krzysztof Warlikowski's iconic Lulu at La Monnaie – an historic event.

*****

Portals into the surreal in La Monnaie's The Turn of the Screw

Katherine Syer, 30th April

A highly satisfying level of polish in La Monnaie's stream in which one recognizes a precisely executed live performance at its core – one that would be thrilling to experience in person.

****1

Listen with Mother: Tsar Saltan as autism parable at La Monnaie

Mark Pullinger, 16th June

Dmitri Tcherniakov's staging turns Rimsky-Korsakov's opera into storytelling for an autistic boy, but does he deliver a fairy tale ending?

*****

Beethoven and Henderickx for a striking programme in Brussels

Pwyll ap Sion, 17th February

Beethoven’s Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and a dazzling new work by Wim Henderickx at Bozar

****1

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Marc Haegeman

Marc Haegeman graduated as a historian from the University of Ghent. He developed a keen interest in music, ballet, photography and nature. As a dance writer and photographer he contributed to leading dance magazines in the last 20 years, including The Dancing Times, Dance International and Ballet2000, and has been working with companies worldwide. His classical music reviews appeared in Classical Net and on his blog I used mostly my ears. He is particularly interested in Russian music and the piano. When free, he loves spending time in nature, photographing landscapes and wildlife.

A manifesto against war: Dubugnon première impresses in Brussels, but Beethoven disappoints