Systematically overturning accepted morals, Elagabalus dresses men as women, and names women to the Senate, favours sinning servants and humiliates generals. Baroque and carnivalesque, Eliogabalo is not, however, an opera that advocates a return to order. Leonardo García Alarcón, a finder of baroque gems, and Thomas Jolly are careful not to transform Eliogabalo into a sublime icon who would abase virtue. On the contrary, the conductor and young director, who are presenting their first production for the Paris Opera, accept the character’s contradictions and ambiguities
The fourth and final part of a cycle of horror and barbarism.
The ultimate progression of an inexorable march of evil before the restoration of peace.
It's not just about the magnetic and fascinating character: it's more the painting of a bruised and devastated society, conducive to the hatching of a monster in question.
