"a visual symphonic concert"

Rufus Wainwright has been an opera lover since childhood. He convinced his sister Martha and her family members to reenact scenes from Puccini's Tosca at home. Yet it took until 2009 for his first opera Prima Donna to be staged.

In 2018, he conceived its successor, Hadrian, commissioned by the Canadian Opera Company Toronto. The Klarafestival 2024 brings this extraordinary production to Bozar.

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The Brussels Philharmonic and five vocal soloists, including Davóne Tines in the role of Hadrian, engage with photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe - which illustrate the story and inner tensions of the characters in this opera.

After the interval, Rufus himself sings his finest songs in an orchestral arrangement.