Mind your opera

LONDON — As restful evenings go, a night at the opera is not usually considered the place to find peace and quiet. The new show at the Barbican in London, however, is set to prove otherwise, as it introduces the world’s first “mindfulness opera”. The performance will feature hours of silence, meditation, yoga and even a spot of washing up, as it attempts to give its audience space to reconnect with themselves and the world.

The show, entitled Lost In Thought, will see mezzo-soprano Lore Lixenberg and seven musicians accompany the audience on what has been billed as an inner journey of mindfulness, with periods of meditation, rest, communal eating and a gentle yoga session. The show, the first of its kind in the world and described as ground-breaking, is directed by Frederic Wake-Walker and is said to explore the points of contact between sound and silence.

Stretching to four hours long, it will see an audience in complete silence for the duration, including a meal and a session of washing up. It is due to open in September, as the Barbican announces its new season of events.

A spokesman for the Barbican said: “For opera-lovers, a four-hour work usually means Wagner; but this ground-breaking work is based on the classic structure of an extended meditation, with the music and concept by Rolf Hind.

“Exploring the points of contact between sound and silence in music and meditation, Lost In Thought will be an immersive musical performance in which the boundaries evaporate between performer and audience, between time and experience.”

Other performances will include a semi-staged production of Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande, conducted by Simon Rattle and directed by Peter Sellars, and international residencies from Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Bach Collegium Japan. Huw Humphreys, the Barbican’s head of music, said: “I hope that audiences will find our new classical music season inspiring, adventurous and rewarding. We push programming frontiers with new composer commissions and present the very best of new music from overseas.

“Traditional boundaries of the concert hall are challenged by groundbreaking cross-arts collaborations and the cream of artists from across the globe perform on our stages alongside the very best of British talent.” Reuters