Is madness a means of escaping reality? Or — on the contrary — a way of confronting it? With his monodrama Eight Songs for a Mad King, Peter Maxwell Davies created in 1968 a brilliantly crafted character study of the deranged British monarch George III, whose reign began in 1760, drawing on the king’s own original texts. Seductive melodies stand alongside dissonances in this modern music-theater classic, which sketches a portrait of emotional and mental disintegration: they are provocative, yet at the same time reveal a startling lucidity.

Ilaria Ariemme

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Aug 28, 2026

Luzerner Theater Opera Ensemble | Lucerne Symphony Orchestra | Maria Radzikhovskiy | Marie Lambert-Le Bihan · Lucerne Festival

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