Ralf Pleger

A captivating storyteller acclaimed for his arresting imagery and deep feeling for fantasy, Ralf Pleger stands among today’s most innovative directors and filmmakers. His approach arises from a commitment to the Gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art, and draws inspiration from early opera’s daring marriage of diverse artforms. It is driven, above all, by the will to defy convention and create things never seen before.

Pleger’s new production of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, made in partnership with visual artist Alexander Polzin, is set to receive ten performances at La Monnaie in Brussels in May 2019. The staging, rooted in its director’s deep connection to Wagner in general and Tristan in particular, is the outcome of a compelling dialogue with Polzin about what art could be. It marks the first in a series of ambitious future stage projects, part of a significant rebalancing of the director’s work in film and theatre.