Adriana Mater

About

War, rape – a child. Kaija Saariaho’s acclaimed opera Adriana Mater is a depiction of war from a woman’s perspective. What do you have to deal with when you have a child growing inside you, a child born of brutal violence? Reality is not black and white, director Dan Turdén reminds us. Alongside the harrowing subject matter is a theme that goes beyond all injustice: Adriana Mater is first and foremost an opera about love and hope. Despite the great masses of sound and pounding rhythms that depict war, the music beats with a heart motif that runs through the entire work. It is a life-affirming reminder of how two hearts beat simultaneously in the body of an expectant mother.