Hanna Husáhr

The Promise (Löftet in Swedish) is the story of Ava who becomes separated from her husband, Teo, in a concentration camp. Determined to be reunited with her husband after the war, she travels through the ruins of a traumatised Europe in search of him. We accompany her on a journey that sways between dream and reality, hope and despair. 27th January is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Royal Swedish Opera pays tribute to the victims in a new comission from composer Mats Larsson Gothe. The world premiere happens on this day and live on OperaVision. It is a story about the invincible power of love seventy-six years after the liberation of Auschwitz. ‘We find ourselves in a time outside time, as the victims of war take their first uncertain steps towards reclaiming their humanity’, says librettist Susanne Marko, who was inspired by her own family history.

In a stuffy provincial town, a passionate and idealistic poet accompanies a dutiful young lady to a ball. He falls madly in love with her - but she is already engaged to another. Bergen National Opera presents Massenet’s great opera in a new production directed and designed by Antony McDonald. The Lithuanian tenor Edgaras Montvidas sings the title role - regarded as one of the most poetic and expressive in the French repertoire - alongside Cardiff Singer of the World 2017 competition winner Catriona Morison as Charlotte.