Innovating within Lausanne's medieval stone walls

Starting this coming Saturday, an opera will be staged in Lausanne Cathedral for the very first time. Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco will be performed by the Amabilis orchestra, the Horizons choir and a number of world-renowned soloists, on a highly imaginative set. The capacity crowd of 760 people will sit on special wooden bleachers - assembled without nails, screws or glue - that were developed by EPFL's IBOIS lab. The story of Nabucco is one of poignant oppositions - magnificence and decadence, strength and submission, history and technology. These will be on full display in Lausanne Cathedral for the opera's week-long run starting on 17 November. But some aspects of Verdi's famous work, which he composed in 1842, have been updated: the story will feature a nod to the European migrations of the mid-20th century, for example, while the staging takes advantage of current-day building technologies. Spectators will be captivated by the music of the local Amabilis orchestra, the Horizons voice ensemble and internationally known soloists.