Bluebeard's Castle / Erwartung

Canadian Opera Company production of Erwartung, 2015. Photo: Michael Cooper.

The Canadian Opera Company's acclaimed production of of Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle (Hungarian) and Arnold Schoenberg’s Erwartung (German) returns to the company’s mainstage this month to close its 2014/2015 season. Both one-act operas are conducted by Johannes Debus and directed by Robert Lepage.

The first piece opens in the hall of Duke Bluebeard's dark castle. Bluebeard (John Relyea) enters with his bride Judith (Ekaterina Gubanova) who suspects the duke is hiding a dark secret inside the castle walls. Judith finds seven locked doors and asks that they be opened to her. One by one she opens them, revealing Bluebeard's treasury, his secret garden, his vast realm and a lake of tears. When Bluebeard finally surrenders the key to the seventh room, Judith discovers the truth about what happened to his previous wives. He tells her that these are the brides of his morning, noon and evening, and ultimately crowns her as the bride of his night.

Erwartung follows a woman in a stage of expectation and apprehension. The woman (Krisztina Szabo) is waiting for a man and discovers to her horror (when she comes across his body) that the man she has been waiting for is dead. Set in a psychiatric hospital, the woman's confusion is observed by a psychiatrist (Mark Johnson) and the mystery of her situation is slowly uncovered in a haunting tale of love, betrayal and madness.

Both Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung feature suspenseful scores, stunning costumes and moving performances. Lepage's innovative staging and lighting effects play with gravity and perspective resulting in a astonishing visual experience for the audience. The two operas mirror one another in tone and theme and are beautifully paired in this unforgettable production.

Catch one of the remaining performances of Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung on May 12, 14, 16, and 23, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Visit coc.ca for more information and to buy tickets.