You can enjoy even more music just across the border at our Belgian partners’ venues! A free shuttle is available from Lille.

Many still remember the sumptuous production of Bizet’s Les Pêchers de perles by the FC Bergman collective, staged at the Opéra de Lille in 2020. This time, the creators of the wolrd-renowned theater company draw their inspiration from two works by the Belgian composer Peter Benoit, the spiritual father of Antwerp opera. His works Lucifer and De Schelde (The Scheldt) have gone down in history as the first large-scale oratorios in Dutch.

Drawing on there two works, Stef Aerts and Marie Vinck have crafted a new production exploring pride and unbridled will. This is a first, as Lucifer and De Schelde have never before been the subject of a staged production. A major role is reserved for an impressive double choir, performed here by the choir and children’s choir of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, joined by numerous additional choristers. The musical ensemble is conducted by Stephan Zilias, the new musical director of the Opera Ballet Vlaaderen.