Do not fear the dog’s bark! Death comes to Escorial but it only haunts the royal palace. And for cause: the king has poisoned his queen; their jester, the queen’s lover, is devastated by grief; and the royal executioner wanders the dark hallways of the palace – it is all too much for the monks, who must pray for the peaceful repose of all …

Escorial is a strange and intrepid alloy: the tone oscillates between grotesque farce and lugubrious tragedy.  The original text by Michel de Ghelderode (author of La Balade du Grand Macabre, which inspired the opera by Ligeti) plays on cruelty. Josse De Pauw plunges us into this simultaneously dark and caustic work to evoke the jubilation of boredom, the tragedy of power and the violence of indifference.

The Collegium Vocale of Gent, founded by Philippe Herreweghe, adds its renowned enthusiasm and refinement to the theatrical mastery of Josse De Pauw. With all the resources of a major artist of the stage, he mixes singers and actors in an extravagant and truculent Baroque spectacle for which George Alexander van Dam has reinvented a sonic universe deftly mixing howling dogs, ringing bells, insane laughter and dialogue with the polyphonic chants of Orlando di Lasso.

This performance is available in the package "Christmas Trio".

Text Michel de Ghelderode
Traditionnal music Roland de Lassus
Musical composition George Alexander van Dam

Director Josse De Pauw
Text adaptation Josse De Pauw
Scenography and lights Herman Sorgeloos
Costumes Greta Goris

With
the Collegium Vocale Gent
Actors Josse De Pauw, Dirk Roofthooft, Louis van der Waal, Nordine Benchorf

Production Muziektheater Transparant

TU 18 FEBRUARY
ENCOUNTER
WITH THE ARTISTIC TEAM
after the representation.
Free entrance

RESTAURATION AND BAR
AT THE ROTUNDA
From 6:30 p.m. and after the representation.