Macbeth - Opéra Orchestre Normandie Rouen (2026/27) - Macbeth - Opéra Orchestre Normandie Rouen (2026/27), Ambre Kahan

Description

A new production for the 2026/27 season by the Opéra Orchestre Normandie Rouen.

How far will one go to seize power? This is one of the central questions posed by Macbeth, the Verdi opera that opens the 2026/2027 season at the Opéra Orchestre Normandie Rouen.

To address this, the Normandy-based opera company has entrusted this dark, potent work to director Ambre Kahan, marking her debut in opera production. She envisions a set design in which “nature gradually invades the space, reclaiming its territory as paranoia and remorse consume the protagonists. Truth will ultimately triumph once the Scottish moor and its rocky fortress have regained their purity, and the Macbeths have washed away their crime in their own blood.” She explains: “Natural elements (mud, blood, fire, smoke) are brought into play, and the human figures must struggle with or against them. (...) Nothing is smooth, nothing is clean; we need roughness, for the performers do not merely occupy the space; they tame it, collide with it, and reveal themselves within it. Beauty springs from this raw material; light finally breaks through the cracks and wounds.”

The director also explores the interplay between the archaic Scotland of the libretto (“the brutality of a peat-rich landscape, a legacy of wild Scotland”) and the Renaissance aesthetic that echoes Shakespeare (“the corseted elegance of the Italian Renaissance envisioned by Verdi”). Her aim is to “tighten the bonds and bridge the gap between Verdi and Shakespeare, creating a fusion where the wildness of the land devours refinement.” On stage, the production also features singers taking on new roles: young baritone Aleksei Isaev in the title role and soprano Ekaterina Sannikova as Lady Macbeth. In the pit, conductor Pierre Dumoussaud marks the start of his tenure as Music Director of the Opéra Orchestre Normandie Rouen with this Macbeth.

Further information is available on the Opera’s official website.

A free translation of our article originally published in French.