Tragedy is consubstantial with opera. The inescapability of the main characters’ bleak destinies makes them into heroes. In parallel, these same characters are shown to be tremendously human; full of doubts, dreams, obsessions, weaknesses... these are their irreversible cracks. They may all wish they could be someone else, but it is too late. They cannot move beyond who they are and, hence, they must learn to live with their ghosts and many consequent scars.  

This season, audiences will meet a gallery of very human characters (Tatiana, Turandot, Cleopatra, Calaf, Amelia, Don José, Angelina, Riccardo, Lecouvreur, Liù, among many others), who – chasing their dreams and bearing weighty burdens from the past – will reveal their humanity, but also the irreparable cracks in their love. 

Kintsugi (金継 ぎ)  

This Japanese technique literally means ‘repairing with gold’. It dates back to the 15th century and consists of using gold or silver dust and lacquer to repair ceramic objects, by joining the broken shards of a piece of pottery with metal. The poetic idea lies in the possibility of creating a piece with greater aesthetic perfection from faults and cracks. What is kintsugi for repairing mankind’s cracks? It just might be knowledge, art and opera.