There are some stories that speak directly to the heart and can be revisited again and again. One such story is that of Manon Lescaut, here retold in Boulevard Solitude.

Boulevard Solitude takes place in Paris after World War Two in the heart of war-torn Europe. Manon and Armand des Grieux meet in a waiting room. It’s love at first sight and they decide to run away from Manon’s brother to find happiness in Paris. But felicity is elusive, and the story has anything but a happy ending for the young lovers.

Boulevard Solitude was Henze’s first opera: an intense and captivating musical-dramatic tour de force that combines explosive jazz and twelve-tone music with twentieth-century opera, dance, drama and cinematic effects – all merged into an unforgettable musical experience.

The performance is directed by French conductor Jérémie Rhorer, who is a frequent guest of Europe’s great opera houses. He held his initial debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2010. Since then he has appeared at a string of such hallowed institutions as the Vienna State Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival.

Boulevard Solitude is performed in German with Danish supertitles.