The Right of The Strong – The Duty of the Weak

Composer Niels Rønsholdt and director Louise Beck examine the nature of power in a newly written opera staged inside the historic University Library.

The Right of The Strong – The Duty of the Weak is an opera trilogy by the composer Niels Rønsholdt and the director Louise Beck. The three operas are created especially for three educational spaces: The Court in Aarhus, in 2025, The Library Hall of Copenhagen University in 2026 and The Royal Hall in Lejre in 2027. The democratic principle of ‘the duty of the strong to ensure the rights of the weak’ is reversed in the title of the opera, and the trilogy thus questions our humanistic worldview

Created in collaboration with ARS NOVA Copenhagen, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, singers and contemporary circus performers, the work unfolds as an immersive performance that places the audience inside a brutal game of strength and submission. Drawing on ancient Nordic sagas as well as the power structures of our own time, the opera offers a direct encounter with what happens when strength replaces justice.