Le Nozze di Figaro from Opéra Bastille on TV - "Pointless Nostalgic" (?)

I very much like Jamie Cullum, but this post is not about this kind of Pointless Nostalgic. It's about a (pointless?) nostalgic production of  Le Nozze di Figaro that will be (almost) live TV-broadcast from Opéra Bastille tonight, Wednesday - November 3rd, at 20:35 (cet) on France3.

It is a revival of the 37 years old production by Giorgio Strehler, which had been thrown out ~10 years ago, replaced by a new production mounted by Christophe Marthaler,  that in turn is now being replaced by this revamped ancient show -- even though its creator is RIP [decors recovered from its debris hidden in the dumpsters of La Scala!]  This move by the new artistic direction of the Paris Opera is now very much debated in France: praised by ones and criticized by others. 

Deshayes, Frittoli and Siurina [all photos are © Fred Toulet].

In any case the cast is good: Ludovic Tézier (Il Conte di Almaviva), Barbara Frittoli (La Contessa), Ekaterina Siurina (Susanna), Luca Pisaroni (Figaro), Karine Deshayes (Cherubino), Ann Murray (Marcellina), Robert Lloyd (Bartolo), Robin Leggate (Don Basilio), Maria Virginia Savastano (Barbarina), and the conductor is Philippe Jordan.

More production photos and "Voi che sapete"-video as an avant-gout are appended below.

Wozzeck and Le Nozze live on TV in November

1. November 3 at 20:30 (cet) on France3: revival of an ancient production of Le Nozze di Figaro live from Opéra Bastille in Paris [dir - Giorgio Strehler, cnd- Philippe Jordan, Cast: Ludovic Tézier, Barbara Frittoli, Ekaterina Syurina, Luca Pisaroni, Karine Deshayes, Ann Murray, Robert Lloyd...]
2. November 26 at 17:00 (cet) on MezzoTV: so much spoken about Wozzeck, live from Bolshoi Theater in Moscow [dir- Dmitri Tcherniakov, cnd- Theodor Curretzis, Cast: Georg Nigl, Elena Zhidkova, Roman Muravitsky, Fredrik Akselberg...]

October 1st: Aida at the Rhine

We know that Calixto Bieito will direct new Aida at Theater Basel. Although Aida is my least favorite opera by Verdi, I wish I could see it (1) because of Calixto, and (2) because that theater is one of the most exciting places (artistically) in Europe right now.

If you don't care much about Calixto or Theater Basel, you might still be interested to know that the same cast will participate in a live TV-event  Aida at the Rhine, organized by the Swiss SF1.

This is the third in the series of projects, following La Traviata at Zurich Main Station in 2008 and La Bohème in the Suburbs of Bern in 2009.  Aida at the Rhine will be live broadcast from Basle on October 1st 2010 at 8 p.m. , and the live video stream will be available on this link.

This peculiar show will be directed by Georges Delnon, Gabriel Feltz will conduct and the cast includes: Angeles Blancas - Aida, Michelle de Young - Amneris, Sergei Khomov - Radames,  Daniel Golossov - Ramfis. 

Next Mammoth TV-Opera Project: Les contes de Hoffmann in 3D

And so the world saw Rigoletto from Mantua last weekend. To me it was yet another proof that opera cannot be adapted to look like a TV-show or a movie.  Opera belongs to theaters -- that's where the genuine magic happens, and the best approximation to that experience are the DVD recordings of the shows presented in theaters.

Photo taken at Stohrer (pastry shop in the Montorgueil street in Paris)

The attempts (futile?)  to convert opera and present it like a movie will continue. We learn that the next big TV-project is Les contes de Hoffmann. Good news is that the adaptation will not be directed by an opera newbie, but by Robert Carsen. Less good news is that Carsen has no experience in directing movies.

It will be filmed in HD and in 3D, in 4 cities: Paris, Venice, Prague, and Milan. The project is a collaboration of Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Prague Estates Theatre, and Teatro La Fenice, and the shooting will start in 2012, involving more than 1000 walk-ons, 50 dancers, large chorus and orchestra. The cast is not fixed yet.

Good luck with that!

Paris Opera to release Mireille on DVD and to live TV-broadcast 3 operas in 2010-2011

The Paris Opera magazine "En Scène!" informs that two productions presented last year are to be released on DVD this month, namely the appalling production of Mireille [Sept 23]*, and Jacquot's  Werther with Kaufmann, Koch et al. [Sept 17].

"En Scène!" also informs us that, during the current season, France Télévision will live broadcast the following three operas:

• Le Nozze di Figaro , dir Giorgio Strehler,  with Tézier, Frittoli, Syurina, Pisaroni, Deshayes [30 years old production]
• Giulio Cesare, dir Laurent Pelly, with Zazzo, Dessay, Leonard, Abrahamyan, Dumaux, Berg, Visse [new production!]
• Francesca da Rimini, dir Giancarlo Del Monaco, with Vassileva, Alagna, Smilek et al. [a year after his horrid Andrea Chénier in Paris, Del Monaco is back with this show premiered in Zurich in 2007]

Precise dates are not communicated. Will keep you posted.
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* Incidentally,  I see that ROH too rushed to release its worst 2009-2010 production on DVD: The Tsarina's Slippers. :)

DVR à programmer

Opéra à la télé

France TV
20/12 à 1h10 La Vie Parisienne sur France 3
24/12 à 0h10 Le Roi Arthur sur France 2
27/12 à 2h45 Don Giovanni sur France 2
TF1
 24/12 à 2h10 La Dame de pique
Mezzo TV
18/12 à 10h30 Faramondo d'Haendel
19/12 à 17h00 La vie parisienne
19/12 à 20h30 The Fairy Queen
22/12 à 20h30 Ta bouche  et Le Toréador ou l'Accord parfait d'Adolphe Adam
23/12 à 10h00 La Veuve Joyeuse
26/12 à 20h30 La Veuve Joyeuse
27/12 à 16h30 The Fairy Queen

+ 31/12 à 17h15  Concert du nouvel an en LIVE de Berlin  [Berliner Philharmoniker (chef Simon Rattle) et Lang Lang]