Wagner Dream

Opera Wagner Dream by Jonathan Harvey & Jean-Claure Carrière, directed by Pierre Audi, performed in Holland Festival 2007.
Now that all of Wagner’s mature operas have been performed by De Nederlandse Opera, the moment seemed ripe for an opera about the composer himself. Composer Jonathan Harvey and librettist Jean-Claude Carrière together have adapted the history of Die Sieger, an opera left unfinished by Wagner, combining the last hours of his life with the plot of the opera. Die Sieger is a drama based on Buddhist philosophy about the love between Pakriti and the Buddhist monk Ananda. Two cultures meet: the rational Western viewpoint that knowledge must be obtained through emotional experience and the Eastern idea that redemption can only be found by freeing oneself from both joy and sorrow. The differences between the two worlds are presented rich in contrast on stage.