A tale, a memory
The story is simple. Aninka and Pepíček are looking for a way to help their mother. They come up against Brundibár, a boisterous and authoritarian figure, before finding some unexpected allies. We are quickly drawn into the situation, the conflict, and the collective momentum that gradually builds.
But Brundibár is more than just a children’s tale. Composed in 1938, premiered clandestinely in Prague, and later revived in Terezín, it also carries the history of the 20th century. This intersection of fable and memory gives the production a special resonance.
To see it today is to discover a work that speaks immediately and continues to resonate long after the performance. With the Maîtrise Populaire at the center of the stage, Brundibár also rediscovers its original nature: an opera in which children are at the heart of the story.
The playlist
Before the performance, the playlist offers a first glimpse into the musical world of Hans Krása.
Centered around Brundibár, the program opens up a broader space where narrative, song, and memory interaction.
Director's Statement
Director’s note
To stage Brundibár is to begin with a children’s tale and let a darker memory gradually emerge. Behind the simplicity of the figures, the songs and the games, history returns and reminds us what it means to steal a childhood.
The stage becomes here a classroom, a place where we learn, where we re-enact, where we seek to understand. Working with young performers gives this journey its necessity: returning to the heart of play, in all that is most alive within it, in order to hold memory and momentum together.
With
Musical direction, Louis Langrée • Stage direction, Muriel Mayette-Holtz, Jean-Claude Berutti • Sets and costumes, Rudy Sabounghi • Choir, Maîtrise Populaire of the Opéra-Comique • Orchestra, Les Frivolités parisiennes
Programme
Before Brundibár, the performance takes the time to set the mood. Jean-Claude Grumberg’s story first opens up a space of childhood and anxiety. Then the music extends this movement with Janáček, Poulenc, Hans Krása, and Ilse Weber. The program thus creates a sensitive progression, leading from narrative to history and from song to memory.
This musical journey extends into the classroom setting, which becomes a space for play, learning, and remembrance.
