Duke Bluebeard's Castle

Duke Bluebeard's Castle is a production from the summer 1994 Savinlinna Opera Festival, with direction, lightning and staging by Claude Neville. The leading roles in the opera are sung by Antti Suhonen (Bluebeard) and Margareta Haverinen (Judith). The music is played by the orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera under Ari Angervo. The libretto was inspired by the story of the gloomy castle with seven doors, each harbouring a secret, from the Mother Goose anthology of tales. Bela Bartok's opera was first performed on 1918 in Budapest. This performance was made specially for television, not a s a direct stage recording, and the secrets behind the doors were made more dramtic using special effects.