We Will Barock You: La Didone in Paris

La Didone, Théâtre des Champs Élysées (TCE), April 12 2012

Director ..... Clément Hervieu-Léger

Conductor ..... William Christie

Didone ..... Anna Bonitatibus

Enea ..... Krešimir Špicer 

Iarba ..... Xavier Sabata

Ecuba ..... Maria Streijffert

Cassandra, Damigella I, Dama III ..... Katherine Watson

Creusa, Giunone, Damigella II, Dama II ..... Tehila Nini Goldstein

Fortuna, Anna, Dama I ..... Mariana Rewerski

Venere, Iride, Damigella III ..... Claire Debono

Ascanio, Amore, Cacciatore ..... Damien Guillon/Terry Wey 

Anchise, Un Vecchio ..... Nicolas Rivenq

Ilioneo, Mercurio ..... Mathias Vidal

Corebo, Eolo, Cacciatore ..... Valerio Contaldo

Acate, Sicheo, Pirro ..... Joseph Cornwell

Greco, Giove, Nettuno, Cacciatore ..... Francisco Javier Borda 

Les Arts Florissants

Dido and Aeneas for history

Dido and Aeneas, Opéra Comique in Paris, March 5 2012

Deborah Warner ..... Director

William Christie ..... Conductor

Malena Ernman ..... Dido

Nikolay Borchev ..... Aeneas

Judith Van Wanroij ..... Belinda

Hilary Summers ..... Sorceress

Lina Markeby ..... Second Woman

Céline Ricci ..... First Witch

Ana Quintans ..... Second Witch

Marc Mauillon ..... Spirit

Ben Davies ..... Sailor

Fiona Shaw ..... Prologue
Orchestre et chœur Les Arts Florissants

Aix 2010: Pygmalion (3)

A quick look back at Aix 2010 [yes, I still have that Don Giovanni wandering in my head!]: I noticed that Oedipus Tyrannus posted the video of Pygmalion on YT.

It is a very refined visual show, musically nearly perfect, and even if you're not too much into dance (such as the case with me) I believe you could appreciate the supreme delicacy combined with "naturalness" of Trisha Brown's  choreography. All four singers are impeccable and Les Arts Florissants & William Christie are at their best. I blogged about this twice already: here and here.

Could there be a better tenor in this repertoire than Ed Lyon?!

Brussels, June 13 2010

Even if you don't particularly like baroque, you cannot but give in to this beauty. It's only 50 min long, and split into 7 videos: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 . Enjoy!

Aix 2010: Pygmalion (2)

Last night we --the lucky subscribers to Mezzo-TV-- could see, live from Aix en Provence, Pygmalion by Rameau, a dance-opera brilliantly staged by  Trisha Brown. The story of a sculptor who falls in love with his creation and begs the goddess to bring her [sculpture] to life, is told by means of modern dancing, involving lots of clever and interestingly constructed topology and fancy positions by both the dancers AND the singers. The orchestra  Les Arts Florissants was marvelous and its boss, maestro  William Christie, simply has this music in his veins. You never feel it as monotonous or flat. It lives!

 Ed Lyon with dancers from The Trisha Brown Dance Company

The singers... aaah the singers: to me Ed Lyon is in the world of tenors what Anja Harteros is in the world of sopranos right now -- can't do wrong. That musicality, that command, sheer beauty of his voice and that diction -- you can't hear that every decade. Sophie Karthäuser and  Emmanuelle de Negri were both wonderful as ever, but the surprise came from Karolina Blixt who we obviously didn't know, as this was her first important international appearance. Her superb scenic presence is backed by a healthy mezzo voice -- with a dark timbre wonderfully fitting  Phaedra [she actually excelled in the first part of the evening, i.e. in Hippolytus and Aricia] One more brilliant Swedish (mezzo)-soprano: what do they feed them with over there? :)


This show practically closes Aix-en-Provence 2010, which I will certainly never forget, mostly because of that Don Giovanni (I'm still hung up on it! ;) ). A huge shoutout to the director of the festival Bernard Foccroulle for providing such a great quality level of the orchestra, conductors, singers AND for a delightful mixture of brilliant directors! I'd remind you that we already the program of Aix-en-Provence 2011.

3 more pics behind...

Aix 2010: Pygmalion

The last of five operas at this year's Festival in Aix-en-Provence is Pygmalion and is to be premiered coming Friday, July 16. This production of Jean-Philippe Rameau's  opera/ballet is directed by Trisha Brown and William Christie will conduct his amazing Les Arts Florissants. The cast includes the most brilliant Ed Lyon, as well as excellent Sophie Karthäuser, Karolina Blixt,  Emmanuelle de Negri. The show was pre-premiered last month in Amsterdam, received mixed reviews, but again everyone praised the brilliance of the singers...

Sophie Karthäuser and Ed Lyon in Trisha Brown's production of Pygmalion

Very good news is that Mezzo TV will provide us with live broadcast of the show on Tuesday, July 20 at 21:00 (cet).

The night I fell in love with the Queen

France loves England!

Better than this is impossible. To make the full (cca 4 hours long) play/opera, with such an enormous cast and such a respect for the work of Purcell - it's love!

It's the most remarkable combination of the baroque and modern expressions, a celebration of theater immersed in the total beauty of Sheakspearian expression and the sublime of Purcell's music.

Jonathan Kent just knows how to capture the best of British culture, and with the superb actors the success was almost guaranteed. Add to that lots of beautiful singing, the great orchestra lead by a living legend - Bill Christie.

I have a busy day today. Hope to post more on this tomorrow... Cheers

The Fairy Queen premieres tonight at Opéra Comique

Tonight is the première of the Jonathan Kent production of  Purcell's Fairy Queen at the Opéra Comique in Paris. With his Les Arts Florissants,  maestro William Christie will bring this semi-opera to life.

Hope I won't be too hard to please since I still am ecstatic about Werther with Sophie Koch and Jonas Kaufmann. Plus, I'm not too big a fan of baroque, and this is apparently a work of wagnerian length.  On the other hand every music played well sounds even better in this humanly-sized theater, which is the Opéra Comique; Jonathan Kent's introductory remarks are a big teaser for me; and then, listen to this beauty...

Video from the same production in Glyndebourne, posted on YouTube by OedipusColoneus

Off I go... Cheers!

Sheakspeare returns to Opéra Comique

I figured the new production of The Fairy Queen, which is supposed to open at the Opéra Comique coming Saturday - January 16, is a co-production with the Glyndebourne festival where this production has been premiered past summer and then kept secret so it could come out on DVD after its run in Paris.

Opéra Comique is not too big a theater, but it is nevertheless surprising to see that all the shows of this production have been sold out LOOONG in advance [including the most expensive seats!!!]
Well, that's what Sheakspeare does for you :)

To prepare for The Fairy Queen on Saturday, here is what  Jonathan Kent had to say about his production, and William Christie about decrypting the Purcell's music.