Bluebeard - Landestheater Bregenz

Duke Bluebeard's Castle

Judith follows Bluebeard into his dark castle. Believing that she can illuminate it with her love, she persuades him to gradually unlock all the hidden rooms for her, discovering the torture chamber, the armory, the enchanted garden, the treasury, and the land. The castle is now bright, but behind every door there is also blood. Bluebeard warns Judith in vain about the last two doors. Thus, she finds the lake of tears and behind the final door, Bluebeard's former wives, frozen in eternal beauty...

Béla Bartók's only opera, DUKE BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE, delves into the psyche of a man whose castle is more than just a building – it is his innermost self, a labyrinth of secrets, hidden truths, and suppressed pain. Judith enters this dark cosmos as Bluebeard's new wife – and demands answers. But how far can one go in the pursuit of knowledge? And which doors should remain closed? The stage becomes the setting for a reconstruction process, where traces, recordings, and memories outline the grim truth behind Bluebeard's story.

With deep, powerful timbres, dissonant tensions, and threateningly swelling orchestral passages, Bartók's music amplifies the impression of a nightmare, rich in profound symbolism – capturing the disturbing connection between love, power, and violence in haunting soul sounds. A monumental opera of unsettling intensity, an operatic evening that does not let go.