Les Huguenots

As much a historical panorama as an intimate drama, Les Huguenots tells the story of the impossible love between a Catholic and a Protestant in the context of the religious wars that set France ablaze in the sixteenth century, reaching a bloody climax with the St Bartholomew’s day massacre. The 2011 La Monnaie production was a major event, presenting the score in all its extravagance, rich in dramatic contrasts, and altering perceptions of the length of the performance. It helped to usher in a return to the international music scene of ‘French grand opera’, a key musical genre that was omnipresent for much of the nineteenth century. More than a decade after he first offered his vision of the work, the director Olivier Py will bring his influential production back to life with an entirely new cast. Following his success in our production of Robert le Diable in 2019, the conductor Evelino Pidò will lead the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra.