Opera Vlaanderen wins the Faust theatre award
La Juive, a production from Opera Vlaanderen (Flanders Opera), has won a prize at the Faust theatre awards in the German town of Freiburg. The opera was commended for its direction, by Peter Konwitschny, in the category Direction of Musical Theatre.
Opera Vlaanderen created the production in 2015 in Ghent and Antwerp as a co-production together with Nationaltheater Mannheim. Last year the opera was also nominated Best New Production at the International Opera Awards. Peter Konwitschny also previously directed Don Carlos (2010) and Aida (2011) for Opera Vlaanderen.
The French composer Jacques Fromenthal Halévy wrote La Juive in 1835 with a libretto by Eugène Scribe. The opera tells the story of Rachel. As a baby she is saved from a fire by a Jew called Eléazar, who raises her as his own daughter. By falling in love with the Christian soldier Léopold, she causes both her own death and that of Eléazar.