Artist

Admin

Festival d'Aix en Provence

Dramaturge

Simon Stone

Set designer

Chloe Lamford

Costume designer

Mel Page

Lighting designer

James Farncombe

Choreographer

Arco Renz

Singer

Soprano

Lenneke Ruiten

Mother-in-Law

Baritone

Thomas Oliemans

Father-in-Law

Lilian Farahani

Bride

Tenor

Markus Nykänen

Groom

Frederik Bergman

Priest

Lucy Shelton

Teacher

Vilma Jää

Student 1

My Johansson

Student 2

Julie Hega

Student 3

Chorus master

Edward Ananian-Cooper

Rowan Kievits

Student 4

Conductor

Elena Schwarz

Stage director

Mezzo-soprano

Jenny Carlstedt

Waitress

Finnish National Opera

De Nationale Opera

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Innocence

Amsterdam

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Dutch National Opera & Ballet

Innocence Saariaho

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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. Three audience favourites – Dutch singers Lilian Farahani, Lenneke Ruiten and Thomas Oliemans – will also be starring in this opera.

Innocence by Saariaho, From (2023/2023), Directed by Simon Stone,, Conductor Elena Schwarz, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam, Netherlands

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