Innocence

A mass shooting takes place at an international school. Ten years later, the shooter’s younger brother gets married and hopes to put this history behind him for good. However, the wedding turns into a confrontation with the past. Traumas that had been suppressed by all the individuals involved resurface, and the distinction between perpetrator and victim becomes increasingly blurred.

The world premiere of Innocence was in 2021 at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, where the opera was highly praised by critics. With the force of a psychological thriller, it shows the far-reaching effects of violence, while Kaija Saariaho’s music reverberates more than ever before with the sounds of raw realism.

The makers

The Australian theatre, film and opera director Simon Stone, who caused a stir in the Netherlands with his impressive theatrical productions at the Holland Festival and ITA (Flight 49, Medea and Ibsen House), will be making his debut at Dutch National Opera with his staging of Saariaho’s latest work. After Émilie (2010) and Only the Sound Remains (2016), Innocence is Saariaho’s third work to be performed by Dutch National Opera.

The Swiss-Australian conductor Elena Schwarz, an ardent advocate of new music, makes her DNO-debut with Innocence. Four audience favourites – Dutch singers Lilian Farahani, Lenneke Ruiten, Frederik Bergman and Thomas Oliemans – will also be starring in this opera.