Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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"It's like a chess game, where all characters are pawns of Henri VIII."—Jean-Romain Vesperini, director of Henri VIII

Director Jean-Romain Vesperini discusses his approach to staging Henri VIII, the psychological undercurrent of the opera, and the late 19th-century cultural factors that influenced the opera's libretto and musical composition.

Henri VIII
By Camille Saint Saëns
July 21–30, 2023

Libretto by Léonce Détroyat and Paul-Armand Silvestre
Directed by Jean-Romain Vesperini
American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein

https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/henri-viii