The Catalan composer Hèctor Parra is the author of a large body of work that builds sonic bridges between arts and society, making connections with the work of writers and artists such as Marie NDiaye, Jaume Plensa and Händl Klaus, or scientists such as the physicist Lisa Randall. His multidisciplinary ear looks for collaborations that ask questions about what it means to be human. Among his many recent compositions, he has created two striking operas: “Les Bienveillantes” (2019), based on the novel by Jonathan Littell, premiered at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen with a libretto by Klaus in a staging by Calixto Bieito; and “Orgia” (2023), premiered in Paris by Ensemble Intercontemporain and also staged by Bieito, based on the first play written by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
“Justice” is his most recent opera, co-produced by the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Festival Tangente St. Pölten (Austria). Based on a script by director Milo Rau and a libretto by Congolese writer Fiston Mwanza Mujila, the opera will premiere in Geneva on January 22. “Justice” is set in Katanga, an extremely mineral-rich region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), whose resources have been mostly exploited by foreign mining companies from the brutal Belgian colonization of the country to the present day. The exploitation of natural resources in this region has often been linked with violence within and between local populations and environmental disasters.
I spoke with Parra earlier this month, after a week of rehearsals for “Justice.”
Unlimited access to our
