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The Exterminating Angel

Thomas Adès

Opéra Bastille

from 29 February to 23 March 2024

2h00 no interval

The Exterminating Angel

Opéra Bastille - from 29 February to 23 March 2024

Synopsis

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After last season’s The Dante Project, the Paris Opera continues to explore the music of contemporary composer Thomas Adès with the French premiere of The Exterminating Angel.

Inspired by Luis Buñuel’s 1962 surrealist film, which offered a scathing critique of the bourgeoisie, the work begins with a dinner among upper-class friends in a plush mansion after an opera performance. But, gradually, a mysterious force prevents the fifteen guests from leaving the reception. In this confinement for no apparent reason, drawn out over several days, the veneer of propriety cracks, revealing the worst of human nature.

Thomas Adès has written a rich and tense score, amplifying the libretto’s strange atmosphere with unusual instruments such as the ondes Martenot. The Paris Opera has entrusted the staging of this huis-clos to Calixto Bieito. The director has long been fascinated by Buñuel’s universe.

Duration : 2h00 no interval

Language : English

Surtitle : French / English

Show acts and characters

CHARACTERS

The hosts
Edmundo: Marquis de Nobile
Lucia de Nobile: his wife

Their guests
Leticia Maynar: an opera singer
Leonora Palma
Silvia de Ávila: a young widowed mother, duchess of Ávila
Francisco de Ávila: her brother
Blanca Delgado: a pianist
Alberto Roc: her husband, a conductor
Beatriz
Eduardo: her fiancé
Comte Raúl Yebenes: an explorer
Colonel Álvaro Gómez Señor Russell
Docteur Carlos Conde

The staff
Julio: the butler
Lucas: the footman
Enrique: the waiter
Pablo: the cook
Meni: a maid
Camila: a maid

Outside the house
Père Sansón
Yoli: Silvia’s son

Act I

The evening spent together at the opera by a group of wealthy high society friends is to end with a late dinner at the home of Lucía and Edmundo Nobile.

Strange things occur: the butler Julio cannot prevent the servant Lucas from leaving, and the maids Meni and Camila also want to leave the house. The Nobiles arrive with their guests, who include the evening’s prima donna, Leticia, and the conductor Alberto with his wife Blanca, a famous pianist.

When the host, Edmundo, raises his glass to Leticia, the aristocrats Silvia and her brother Francisco make fun of the “Virgin Bride of Lammermoor”. Lucía announces a Maltese ragoût as a first course, but the servant ser- ving it drops it. Not everyone laughs, especially not Señor Russell. Despite Lucía’s protests, the remaining servants flee the house. Only Julio remains.

People chat and joke. Blanca sits at the piano. Leonora flirts with her doctor, Dr Conde, who tells Raúl that Leonora is seriously ill and does not have long to live. Everyone applauds the pianist Blanca, and Leticia is asked to sing something more.

A number of the guests prepare to leave, while the conductor Alberto falls asleep. Lucía meets up with her secret lover, Colonel Álvaro. Despite the late hour, none of the guests attempt to leave. Edmundo is concerned, but offers beds to all those who wish to stay. Señor Russell and the colonel are appalled to see some of the guests take off their jackets, but they too eventually lie down go to bed. The newly engaged Eduardo and Beatriz want to spend their first night together.


Act II

The next morning, the hosts and their guests wake up. Silvia recounts her horrible nightmare. The doctor is forced to admit that Russell, who has been ill, is dying. Julio, who is in charge of preparing breakfast, reports that the suppliers have not turned up. When Lucía wants to take some of the ladies to her room for a morning wash, they are unable to cross the threshold. Blanca is worried about her children, but like her husband, she cannot bring herself to leave. Another attempt to get the guests to leave fails when Julio arrives with coffee. Only the explorer Raúl tries to remain rational and deal pragmatically with this unusual situation. Francisco complains that he can’t stir his coffee with a teaspoon. When Julio wants to fetch some teaspoons, he cannot leave the salon either.

Evening falls. Russell has slipped into a coma and is in urgent need of medical help. Fear is spreading among the guests: there is nothing left to drink and the out- side world seems to have forgotten them. Why did the servants simply leave the villa the previous evening? The doctor calls for calm, but he too seems to be losing his composure. Raúl is furious and blames Edmundo, his host, for the desperate situation. Francisco suffers a panic attack and is not easily calmed down. When Russell suddenly awakens from his coma, he is relie- ved not to be “exterminated”. Beatriz does not want to die in the midst of all these people, but alone with her beloved.

Russell dies during the night. While the doctor and Colonel Álvaro try to hide the body, they are watched by Eduardo and Beatriz.


Act III

A number of voices are heard.

Lucia and Blanca are digging holes in the floor to draw water from the pipes. The guests push and shove each other to at last quench their thirst. The trapped guests are also driven to despair by hunger. Blanca combs only half her hair, which drives Francisco crazy. When he cannot find the medicine for his stomach ulcer, he immediately suspects foul play. Raúl insults Francisco because of his relationship with his sister. Host Edmundo tries to calm things down, but is him- self attacked in return. Now only a miracle can save the day. Leonora, suffering from severe pain, begs the doctor for help; if she is cured, she wants to make the pilgrimage to Lourdes.

In her fever, a hallucinating Leonora sees a hand threate- ning her. Trying to push it back, she strikes Blanca’s hand. Eduardo and Beatriz want to die together. The conductor Alberto physically harasses Leticia, but manages to deflect suspicion onto the colonel. This leads to a brawl in which Edmundo is injured.

Suddenly, Silvia’s son Yoli appears with his tutor, Father Sansón and the missing employees.

The host tries to grill some meat over a makeshift fire. Leonora remembers a vision she had on the night of the opera performance and tries to perform a magical ritual with Blanca and Leticia. When the ritual fails, she declares that innocent blood is needed. The bodies of Eduardo and Beatriz are discovered. Silvia imagines she is lulling her little boy Yoli to sleep.

Little by little, the idea takes root in the guests’ minds that a sacrifice is needed for their liberation: their host Edmundo is designated as the scapegoat and must die. The doctor and the colonel try in vain to change the others’ minds. Edmundo is willing to agree to the sacrifice, but Leticia interrupts him. She believes that at this very moment, everyone is in exactly the same place as when this strange imprisonment began. At her instigation, the others hesitantly repeat their actions and dialogues from the first evening. When Leticia is invited to sing for the second time, she does so. Together, the prisoners approach the doorway and manage to cross it. But their freedom will be short-lived.

Artists

Opera in three acts (2016)

Based on the eponymous film by Luis Buñuel

Creative team

Cast

Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus

With the exceptional support of Aline Foriel-Destezet

Media

[TRAILER] THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL by Thomas Adès
[TRAILER] THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL by Thomas Adès
  • Draw-me The Exterminating Angel

    Draw-me The Exterminating Angel

    Watch the video

  •  A mysterious bewitchment: interview with Thomas Adès and Calixto Bieito

    A mysterious bewitchment: interview with Thomas Adès and Calixto Bieito

    Watch the video

Draw-me The Exterminating Angel

Watch the video

Understand the plot in 1 minute

2:04 min

Draw-me The Exterminating Angel

By Matthieu Pajot

 A mysterious bewitchment: interview with Thomas Adès and Calixto Bieito

Watch the video

11:09 min

A mysterious bewitchment: interview with Thomas Adès and Calixto Bieito

By Marion Mirande

  "Freedom is a ghost" said Luis Buñuel, director of the film The Exterminating Angel. Taking his inspiration from the film and its surreal domestic huis clos, composer Thomas Adès has created a brilliantly orchestrated work of tremendous dramatic force, which acts like a spell on both the performers - themselves prisoners of an enigmatic force - and the audience.

Calixto Bieito embraces this dramatic and operatic substance, underlining the humanity in its darkest aspects.  

  • [EXTRAIT] THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL by Thomas Adès
  • [EXTRAIT] THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL by Thomas Adès
  • [EXTRAIT] THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL by Thomas Adès
  • [TEASER] THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL by Thomas Adès
  • The Exterminating Angel (saison 23/24) - Acte 2 - A. Roth Costanzo (Francesco de Avilà), Tutti

  • The Exterminating Angel (saison 23/24) - Acte 2 - A. Roth Costanzo (Francesco de Avilà), Tutti

  • The Exterminating Angel (saison 23/24)- Acte 3 - N. Spence, J. Stucker (E. & L. de Nobile)

  • The Exterminating Angel (saison 23/24)- Acte 3 - N. Spence, J. Stucker (E. & L. de Nobile)

  • The Exterminating Angel (saison 23/24) - Act 2 - A. Edris , F. Manu, C. Rice, C. Boyle, G. Tronel

  • The Exterminating Angel (saison 23/24) - Act 2 - A. Edris , F. Manu, C. Rice, C. Boyle, G. Tronel

Press

  • At the Paris Opera, Thomas Adès' masterful and terrifying "Exterminating Angel".

    Le Monde, 2024
  • A show to remember for a long time to come: thanks to Calixto Bieito's delirious staging, thanks to a flamboyant, possessed vocal ensemble, thanks to the composer's musical direction, who guides the opera's forces with an iron hand through the twists and turns of his brilliant score.

    Diapason, 2024
  • Demonstrating remarkable cohesion, the Paris Opera Chorus is excellent, just as the outstanding cast.

    Le Monde, 2024
  • At the Paris Opera, Thomas Adès's 'The Exterminating Angel' is causing a sensation.

    Diapason, 2024
  • Thomas Adès, a kind of eccentric reincarnation of Benjamin Britten, has achieved a tour de force with his third operatic endeavour.

  • Thomas Adès enters the lyric repertoire of the Paris Opera [...] and establishes himself as one of the leading living creators of the genre.

    Le Figaro, 2024
  • Thomas Adès seems to constantly renew himself from one work to the next.

    Telerama, 2024

Access and services

Opéra Bastille

Place de la Bastille

75012 Paris

Public transport

Underground Bastille (lignes 1, 5 et 8), Gare de Lyon (RER)

Bus 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91, N01, N02, N11, N16

Calculate my route
Car park

Q-Park Opéra Bastille 34, rue de Lyon 75012 Paris

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Imagined as benchmark, richly illustrated booklets, the programmes can be bought online, at the box offices, in our shops, and in the theatres hall on the evening of the performance.  

BUY THE PROGRAM
  • Cloakrooms

    Free cloakrooms are at your disposal. The comprehensive list of prohibited items is available here.

  • Bars

    Reservation of drinks and light refreshments for the intervals is possible online up to 24 hours prior to your visit, or at the bars before each performance.

  • Parking

    You can park your car at the Q-Park Opéra Bastille. It is located at 34 rue de Lyon, 75012 Paris. 

    BOOK YOUR PARKING PLACE.

In both our venues, discounted tickets are sold at the box offices from 30 minutes before the show:

  • €35 tickets for under-28s, unemployed people (with documentary proof less than 3 months old) and senior citizens over 65 with non-taxable income (proof of tax exemption for the current year required)
  • €70 tickets for senior citizens over 65

Get samples of the operas and ballets at the Paris Opera gift shops: programmes, books, recordings, and also stationery, jewellery, shirts, homeware and honey from Paris Opera.

Opéra Bastille
  • Open 1h before performances and until performances end
  • Get in from within the theatre’s public areas
  • For more information: +33 1 40 01 17 82

Opéra Bastille

Place de la Bastille

75012 Paris

Public transport

Underground Bastille (lignes 1, 5 et 8), Gare de Lyon (RER)

Bus 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91, N01, N02, N11, N16

Calculate my route
Car park

Q-Park Opéra Bastille 34, rue de Lyon 75012 Paris

Book your parking spot
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text
super alt text

Imagined as benchmark, richly illustrated booklets, the programmes can be bought online, at the box offices, in our shops, and in the theatres hall on the evening of the performance.  

BUY THE PROGRAM
  • Cloakrooms

    Free cloakrooms are at your disposal. The comprehensive list of prohibited items is available here.

  • Bars

    Reservation of drinks and light refreshments for the intervals is possible online up to 24 hours prior to your visit, or at the bars before each performance.

  • Parking

    You can park your car at the Q-Park Opéra Bastille. It is located at 34 rue de Lyon, 75012 Paris. 

    BOOK YOUR PARKING PLACE.

In both our venues, discounted tickets are sold at the box offices from 30 minutes before the show:

  • €35 tickets for under-28s, unemployed people (with documentary proof less than 3 months old) and senior citizens over 65 with non-taxable income (proof of tax exemption for the current year required)
  • €70 tickets for senior citizens over 65

Get samples of the operas and ballets at the Paris Opera gift shops: programmes, books, recordings, and also stationery, jewellery, shirts, homeware and honey from Paris Opera.

Opéra Bastille
  • Open 1h before performances and until performances end
  • Get in from within the theatre’s public areas
  • For more information: +33 1 40 01 17 82

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The Exterminating Angel

The Exterminating Angel : the true/false story

Characters trapped in a mansion, strange things happening, tragic events… Will you solve this true/false synopsis of Thomas Adès’s Exterminating Angel? Ready? Go!

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