Werner Van Mechelen

Six marriages, two annulments, two beheadings and the founding of his own Church, against the authority of Rome... in his search for a suitable spouse, the notorious Tudor King of England Henry VIII shrank from nothing. Here we focus on the amorous and political intrigues surrounding the annulment of Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon in favour of his new passion for Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII, a grand historical opera by Camille Saint-Saëns, is characterised by stark contrasts: ardour and modesty, jealousy and renunciation, intimacy and solemnity. La Monnaie in Brussels have entrusted their new production to director Olivier Py and conductor Alain Altinoglu, two fervent champions of the French repertoire. With magnificent sets, high drama and compelling music, this production offers a musical journey which starts in sixteenth century England but still resonates today through a timeless question: How far can a man of power go with his conquests?

Premiered in 1733, Pergolesi's La Serva Pedrona is a Major event in the history of opera. Due to the lightheatedness of the plot and the ordinariness of the characters – not to say their coarseness – La Serva Pedrona launched what is known today as "the Quarrel of the Comic Actors" ("la Querelle des Bouffons" in French), a quarrel that brought into conflict the advocates of the French tradition against the proponents of the Italian music, the latter gathered behing the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. If what they were fighting about seems trifling to the modern observer, the quarrel occasioned fierce reactions wavering between jingoistic arguements and unjustified critics of the French style. Be that as it may, La Serva Pedrona is a masterpiece, all the more so with the charmismatic Donato Di Stefano in the role of Uberto and the delightfull Patrizia Biccirè giving life to the mischievous Serpina.

ARTE pays tribute to bass-baritone José van Dam, who passed away on February 17, 2026, and who will remain one of Belgium's most iconic voices. In May 2010, the “maestro” bid farewell to the stage at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, in one of his favorite roles, Jules Massenet's “Don Quichotte.” A moment out of time.

Premiered in Stockholm in 1978, the work is based on a play by Michel de Ghelderode (1898-1962) and unfolds in an imaginary land inspired by the famous Dutch painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder: Nekrotzar, the Grand Macabre, announces the end of the world; but in a land ruled by eros, alcohol and corruption, his plan to unleash the Apocalypse bursts like a soap bubble. LIVE RECORDING FROM THE GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU, BARCELONA, 2011

Composed between 1875 and 1878, Le roi d'Ys was met with incredible success, with 100 performances the year of its premiere. The soprano Giuseppina Piunti (Margared) joins the Wallonie-Liège Royal Opera Orchestra under the direction of par Patrick Davin, and Jean-Louis Pichon’s staging bring this chef-d’œuvre of the Wagnerian opera to new heights.

A deeply-moving tragedy, Il Tabarro is the first chapter, a one-act opera that follows two lovers confronted by a violent, cuckolded husband. In 2012 at the Puccini Plus Festival, the Opéra de Lyon presented Puccini’s Il trittico over the course of several evenings.Carefully structured and with an action-packed plot, this first installment comes to life in a magnificent staging by David Pountney.

The farce Gianni Schicchi is the triptych’s third and final chapter. In 2012 at the Puccini Plus Festival, the Opéra de Lyon presented Puccini’s Il trittico over the course of several evenings. The plot is set in Florence in the 13th century. The elderly Buoso Donati has just died and willed all of his worldly goods to the clergy. His panic-stricken family calls on Gianni Schicchi, who decides to impersonate the deceased man in order to dictate a new will to the notary. Malicious and strategic, Schicchi takes advantage of the situation to steal the old man’s belongings for himself. The triptych's final installment, this unconventional operatic masterpiece closes on the radiant smiles of its comedic lovers.

‘In reality, this Lohengrin is an entirely new phenomenon for the modern consciousness!’ Richard Wagner himself understood the innovative character of his sixth piece of music theatre, completed in 1848, the year of revolutions. Although it is reckoned among his ‘romantic operas’, his new vision of musical drama is already clearly heralded in this work. In his hands, the mediaeval saga of the Knight of the Swan becomes a meditation on the true love that asks no questions. Alain Altinoglu, our Music Director, who has already conducted this work in Bayreuth, guarantees the quality of the music, while the director Olivier Py, known at La Monnaie for his brilliant productions of Les Huguenots and Hamlet, can be relied on not to downplay Wagner’s revolutionary political side. Wagner’s own opinion was that ‘one can only understand Lohengrin if one can liberate oneself from any modern-looking, generalising form of representation so as to see the phenomena of real life’. A challenge to us all?