Opera: Bluebeard’s Castle
Composer: Béla Bartók
Libretto: Béla Balázs
Streaming on: OperaVision
Premiere streaming: 9 May 2025, 19:00 CET
Available until: 9 November 2025, 12:00 CET
Language: Hungarian
Subtitles: Hungarian, English, Dutch
Duration: Approx. 1 hour
Production: Opera Zuid
Recording date: 30 October 2024
Cast:
- Judith: Deirdre Angenent
- Duke Bluebeard: Thomas Oliemans
Orchestra: Philzuid Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Duncan Ward
Stage direction: Kenza Koutchoukali
Set, costume & lighting design: Yannick Verweij
Dramaturgy: Wout van Tongeren
Assistant conductor: Lochlan Brown
Assistant director: Joep Hupperetz
In Bluebeard’s Castle, Béla Bartók condenses psychological tension into a one-act opera of just under an hour. Each of the seven doors Judith opens in her husband’s mysterious home reveals new dimensions of sound and symbolism, from dissonant unease to lush orchestral color.
This new production comes from Opera Zuid, a Dutch touring opera company based in Maastricht. Known for contemporary stagings and regional outreach, Opera Zuid brings fresh perspectives to both classic and modern repertoire. In this staging, director Kenza Koutchoukali and designer Yannick Verweij reimagine Bluebeard’s castle as a modern flat, reflecting the emotional distance between the characters.
Thomas Oliemans makes his debut in the title role, and Deirdre Angenent returns as Judith. Duncan Ward conducts the Philzuid Symphony Orchestra, which plays a central role in expressing the opera’s shifting emotional terrain.
OVERVIEW
Judith has just arrived at the home of her new husband, Duke Bluebeard. The imposing structure hides seven locked doors. As Judith insists on opening them, despite Bluebeard’s reluctance, she discovers increasingly disturbing scenes: a torture chamber, an armory, bloodstained treasures, a garden that bleeds, a vast landscape, and a lake of tears. Each door opens not just a space but a memory, a metaphor, a truth.
The final door reveals Bluebeard’s past: his three previous wives, still present, trapped in darkness. Judith becomes the fourth, bound not by chains, but by the weight of Bluebeard’s inner world—a place where love and silence coexist.
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