Si puo? 50 Years Dutch National Opera

> A festive monument celebrating 50 years of DNO
> Richly illustrated with posters, unpublished photographs and untold stories
> Designed by Irma Boom

Love and jealousy, betrayal and strife, murder and theatre, make-up and high notes – in the opera, the entirety of life is presented in a compact form. Much like the way that the buffoon from I Pagliacci looks at himself in the mirror and recognizes reality, opera has always been a mirror of man and society. Over the past 50 years, the DNO has offered its audience a wide variety of startling and compelling operas. Its adventurous and consistent artistic policy has resulted in an unprecedented number of world premieres, as well as a solid and leading position in the international field.

This festive book offers a rich overview of the premieres, highlights, developments and stories that 50 years of DNO have delivered. Artistic director Pierre Audi (the winner of the first Johannes Vermeer Award) and graphic designer Irma Boom (the winner of the most recent Johannes Vermeer Award) have together made a surprising choice from the rich material, with many unpublished photographs, posters and pictures. Various specialists place the story of DNO in the broader perspective of the history of opera in the Netherlands, with special attention paid to the opera building, the world premieres, the highlights and the international significance of DNO in the world of opera.