Lear

As a result, Lear disowns his favourite daughter. Now lacking a dowry, she is married off by her father to the King of France, who later decides to invade Lear’s lands. The kingdom is divided between Goneril and Regan, who eventually unite in open contempt for their ageing father. Accompanied only by his Fool, the old king wanders across an open field through rain and storm at night…

Premiering in 1978, Aribert Reimann’s Lear condenses Shakespeare’s monumental drama into eleven scenes, some unfolding simultaneously, creating a timeless masterpiece of unparalleled vocal and instrumental power. Barrie Kosky stages this classic of modern music theatre as the endgame of a king who knows how little time he has left, yet refuses to hear the truth. A man who is loved, but must die alone.

No sooner is the kingdom divided than Goneril and Regan unite against Lear in their hunger for power. They refuse to accommodate his retinue and leave him outdoors exposed to a violent storm that is gathering. In helpless rage, Lear wanders through the night, accompanied only by his Fool and by Kent, who is in disguise. Searching for shelter, they encounter »poor Tom«. The Earl of Gloucester comes to conduct Lear to safety.

II.

France goes to war against Britain. Believing Gloucester to be a French spy, Regan and her husband, the Duke of Cornwall, blind him. While inflicting this cruel punishment, Cornwall himself loses his life. Gloucester realises that it was not Edgar but Edmund who betrayed him. Broken, he makes his way to Dover, where he plans to throw himself off the cliffs. »Tom« agrees to guide his blind father. The two men come across a completely estranged Lear.

Lear is taken to the French camp and there asks Cordelia for forgiveness. With the British army under Edmund’s command victorious, father and daughter find themselves in captivity. Edmund, who has sworn his love to both Goneril and Regan, gives orders for the execution of Cordelia. Unexpectedly Edgar appears and mortally wounds his brother in a duel. Regan is poisoned by Goneril, who takes her own life when Edmund dies. Lear’s heart breaks at the sight of Cordelia's dead body.