One of Maeterlink’s shorter works (soon followed by Pelleas and Melisande), Les Aveugles is the devastating, poetic tale of a group of the blind, slowly coming to terms with the loss of their guide. Dayer’s score remains true to Maeterlinck’s mysterious poetic world, where dreams and reality coexist. Dayer is an IRCAM trained composer whose theatrical settings of Ferdinand Pessoa texts include Le Marin and, most recently, La Jeune Fille Tristesse for Joan Rogers at Zurich. Director Marc Paquien is emerging as the one of the best new generation directors in France, and lighting design is by the celebrated Dominique Brugiere (Luc Bondy’s Cruel and Tender).

Les Aveugles is a commission from the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra national de Paris, and is created in collaboration with the Théâtre Gérard Philipe de Saint-Denis, where the production will be premiered from 19-21 June 2006. The performances at the Almeida are presented with the support of Columbia Foundation, San Francisco

Learn more about London operas within the West End.