Berg’s opera seems an indisputable candidate for the greatest opera of the 20th century. (Philip Hensher, The Guardian, 1 June 2009)

Lulu is the object of desire of all the men in the opera—but she can’t be the woman the men imagine her to be or project onto her. She can never fulfill all the desires of both being the femme fatale and the faithful, quiet wife, just as the men can never be the people that Lulu hopes they will be. And in each case, this impossibility of desire ends in disaster. (William Kentridge, www.metopera.org, 9 October 2015)

William Kentridge’s production of Alban Berg’s Lulu with Marlis Petersen in the title role premières on 5 November at the Met. Watch scenes from the prologue of the production:

The performance on Saturday 21 November will be broadcast live in more than 2000 theatres.

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