Cardillac

The world premiere of "Cardillac" in 1926 placed Hindemith in the forefront of contemporary composers. In 1952 Hindemith thoroughly revised the work, which originally celebrated the principle of uncompromising artistic license; the artist, whose only obligation is to his creations, stands outside the moral and ethical norms of society. For his production, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle chose the original version, which he found "more cheeky, youthful, aggressive. Cardillac was written during the great age of German expressionist film: Nosferatu, M, Caligari, Metropolis. For stylistic reasons alone I have put Cardillac in this milieu. I use elements of the expressionist film in the lighting, in the gestures, in the costumes."