Dates

15-21 November 2024

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage

Running time

1:50, no interval

Tickets

From € 22

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Photo: Hugo Thomassen

The dark side of love

Let yourself be carried away by enchanting Renaissance music and powerful portrayals of love as a suffering, a yearning, a torture. In this brand-new production, conductor Raphaël Pichon and theatre maker Romeo Castellucci, together with the musicians of Pygmalion, return to the origins of opera as an art form. Le lacrime di Eros is a visually compelling music theatre performance without a linear storyline, where love reveals its darkest side through a series of poignant scenes.

The dark side of love

The suffering called love

In Renaissance Florence, composers, philosophers, poets, choreographers, painters and inventors joined forces to create a new art form: opera. The repertoire of Renaissance composers such as Striggio, Malvezzi, Marenzio, Peri, Caccini, Cavalieri and the young Claudio Monteverdi reveals the creativity and experimental freedom of the time. In their music, love is far from something sweetly sentimental, but carries with it a dark shadow. 

In a pasticcio – a compilation of musical pieces from opera’s earliest period – Pichon and Castellucci present these dark sides of love in breathtaking fashion, as a series of ‘books’ (libri) on stage. Operating masterfully at the interface of opera with performance art and the visual arts, Romeo Castellucci creates stage imagery that bypasses the mind and speaks straight to the heart.

Dialogue between Renaissance music and electronic music

Raphaël Pichon and his Pygmalion enact a dialogue between original material from the Renaissance and the electronic music of Scott Gibbons. In his new compositions, Gibbons amplifies and distorts the sounds of the performers’ bodies to explore human passion in all its tenderness and cruelty.

Le lacrime di Eros also uses the latest technology in artificial acoustics and sound mapping to create a sound space that is an artwork in its own right. In this advanced soundscape, audiences will not only hear the Pygmalion choir but also an ensemble of impressive voices and stage personalities. Soprano Jeanine De Bique previously sang the roles of Annio in La clemenza di Tito (2018) and Aida in Caruso a Cuba (2018) with DNO, while mezzo-soprano Katia Ledoux performed the roles of Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande (2019), Makuba in How Anansi Freed the Stories of the World (2021) and Proserpine in Eurydice – Die Liebenden, blind (2022). Baritone Gyula Orendt returns to Amsterdam after his performance of Gaveston/Stranger in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence (2018), while tenor Zachary Wilder will be making his house debut.

We provide discounts tailored for certain groups to ensure our performances are accessible to all. Please visit this page to determine if you qualify for a discount.

Youths up to 35 can attend this performance for only € 25,00 (including booking fee), regardless of which price category is ordered.

Price category

Standard

CJP | City Pass

Youths up to 35

1st

€ 141,00

€ 126,00

€ 23,00

2nd

€ 108,00

€ 100,00

€ 23,00

3rd

€ 89,00

€ 75,00

€ 23,00

4th

€ 65,00

€ 54,00

€ 23,00

5th

€ 46,00

€ 39,00

€ 23,00

6th

€ 22,00

€ 18,00

€ 23,00

Dutch National Opera & Ballet uses a system of dynamic pricing. This means that tickets for popular performances may increase in price as the performance date approaches and more tickets are sold. All prices exclude the booking fee (€ 2 per ticket).

Student discount and student alert

Last-minute deal! When a performance isn’t sold out, students can purchase a ticket online for just € 19 on the day of the performance starting from 13:00.

To stay updated on more offers, sign up for our student alert. This way, you’ll be informed in advance about which performances you can attend for just € 19!

Performance information

Sung in Italian

Libretto  Original texts, slightly adapted for this production

Musical concept, musical arrangements and conductor  Raphaël Pichon
Concept, stage direction and set, costume and lighting designer  Romeo Castellucci
Electro-acoustic compositions  Scott Gibbons
Dramaturgy  Piersandra Di Matteo
Artistic collaborator  Maxi Menja Lehmann
Set design collaborator  Lisa Behensky
Costume design collaborator  Clara Rosina Straßer
Choreography collaborator  Nis Fee Brender 
Lighting collaborator  Benedikt Zehm

Il Poeta / Orfeo  Gyula Orendt
La Ninfa / Euridice  Jeanine De Bique
La Messagiera  Katia Ledoux
Il Pastore  Zachary Wilder

Pastori
Zachary Wilder, Camille Chopin, Perrine Devillers, Renaud Brès, Constantin Goubet, Guillaume Gutierrez

Performers
Ana Velasco
Renzo Popolizio
Federica Panariello
Luigi Vilotta

Pygmalion

Installation in collaboration with Frederik Heyman
frederikheyman.com

Please note, this performance contains depictions of blood, torture, and suicide, which may be experienced as intense.

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Online programme

Along with the printed programme book, we also offer online programme information for this performance. The online programme will take you behind the scenes with in-depth stories, articles, and interviews with the creators and cast.

Order tickets

Youths up to 35 can attend this performance for only € 25,00 (including booking fee), regardless of which price category is ordered.

Ticket prices

We provide discounts tailored for certain groups to ensure our performances are accessible to all. Please visit this page to determine if you qualify for a discount.

Price category

Standard

CJP | City Pass

Youths up to 35

1st

€ 141,00

€ 126,00

€ 23,00

2nd

€ 108,00

€ 100,00

€ 23,00

3rd

€ 89,00

€ 75,00

€ 23,00

4th

€ 65,00

€ 54,00

€ 23,00

5th

€ 46,00

€ 39,00

€ 23,00

6th

€ 22,00

€ 18,00

€ 23,00

Dutch National Opera & Ballet uses a system of dynamic pricing. This means that tickets for popular performances may increase in price as the performance date approaches and more tickets are sold. All prices exclude the booking fee (€ 2 per ticket).

Student discount and student alert

Last-minute deal! When a performance isn’t sold out, students can purchase a ticket online for just € 19 on the day of the performance starting from 13:00.

To stay updated on more offers, sign up for our student alert. This way, you’ll be informed in advance about which performances you can attend for just € 19!

Recordings will take place on 18 and 21 November, which means some seats may have a slightly restricted view of the stage due to the cameras. These seats are available exclusively by phone via Customer Service on 020 625 54 55, at a special reduced price of € 25,00.

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Introduction

An introduction offering background information to enhance your theatre experience will take place 45 minutes before the performance. The introductions, held in Dutch, are free and require no reservation—simply present your ticket. They are held in the Souterrain.

Pygmalion

Pygmalion

Pygmalion, founded in 2006 by its musical leader Raphaël Pichon, consists of a chorus and an orchestra that plays instruments from the past. The ensemble explores the commonalities between ostensibly disparate composers and develops unique programmes that combine music from different periods. In the 2024 – 2025 season, Pichon and his Pygmalion will be making an appearance at Dutch National Opera in the new production Le lacrime di Eros.

Photo: Piergab

Raphaël Pichon

A rebirth rather than a reconstruction

Musical leader Raphaël Pichon and director Romeo Castellucci on Le lacrime di Eros.

Discover the music of Le lacrime di Eros

Production partner