Conductor ..... Jérémie Rhorer Director ..... Marcel Bozonnet
Amadis ..... Philippe Do Oriane ..... Hélène Guilmette Arcabonne ..... Allyson McHardy Arcalaüs ..... Franco Pomponi Urgande, 1st Coryphaeus ..... Julie Fuchs La Discorde, 2nd Coryphaeus ..... Alix Le Saux La Haine, L’Ombre d’Ardan Canil ..... Peter Martinčič* Soprano solo ..... Ana Dežman* Tenor solo ..... Martin Sušnik* *soloistes of the Chorus of SNG Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Compagnie de danse Les Cavatines (Natalie van Parys) Le Cercle de l’Harmonie
Le Prince charmant ..... Michèle Losier La Fée ..... Église Gutiérrez Mme de La Haltière ..... Ewa Podleś Pandolfe ..... Laurent Alvaro Noémie ..... Aurélia Legay Dorothée ..... Salomé Haller Le Roi ..... Laurent Herbaut Le Doyen de la Faculté ..... Vincent de Rooster Le Surintendant des plaisirs ..... Julien Neyer
Orchestra and chorus of Musiciens du Louvre - Grenoble
I already blogged about the empirical evidence that a successful (good, witty, well assembled...) production of a French opera in Paris is extremely rare. I even believe to have understood why it is so, but discussing it now would take me far from my summerish light mood... On the other hand, if you see any English opera title in Paris don't miss the chance to see it: English operas in Paris are regularly meticulously produced, with a grain of audacity, and with superbly composed production teams...
And there you discover again that incredible talent of Malena Ernman's (another Swedish miracle) that we've admired many many times so far (see in particular her sensational Julie [see also this]) Visit her [very] personal website.
She must be the most talented, wittiest, funniest... hardworking singer today. A great artist!
Why do I talk about this? Because I met today someone whom I offered that DVD of Dido & Aeneas almost a year ago --someone who's not at all into opera-- and who today thanked me for the most memorable moment of refined musical beauty (just when I thought my present must have finished on a shelf collecting the dust...)
The following video-clip is... well... just a video-clip. You need to converge to Dido's lament and feel all your foundations shaken up.
Malena Ernman, singing When I am laid in earth (preceded by Thy hand, Belinda)
Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me,
On thy bosom let me rest,
More I would, but Death invades me;
Death is now a welcome guest.
When I am laid, am laid in earth, May my wrongs create
No trouble, no trouble in thy breast;
Remember me, remember me, but ah! forget my fate.
Remember me, but ah! forget my fate
Many singers recorded this aria but I believe, besides Malena Ernman, the recordings of Janet Baker, Lorraine Hunt, and Véronique Gens (yes, yes!) are somewhat above the rest...
This is also a Wilkommen post to a fellow blogger, Likely Impossibilities, who recently moved to Vienna and who will keep us posted about what's on in Operatic Austria -- at least during 2010-2011.
Malena will sing in a new production of Semele (dir Robert Carsen) at Theater an der Wien which opens on Sept 15th (but I suspect the tickets are impossible to get)
Opéra Comique in Paris is preparing to unveil their last new production this season: Pelléas et Mélisande, produced by Stéphane Braunschweig. The premiere is scheduled for next Monday - June 14.
While hisrecent Ring in Aix was swinging from OK-ish [Die Walküre] to downright bad [Die Götterdämmerung], and his Don Carlo --remember the opening of the 2009 Season at La Scala?!-- turned into a global operatic failure [nevertheless released on DVD], I believe Brunschweig will be excellent in a more introspective work such as Debussy's Pelléas. In any case, this is one of the shows not to be missed this month in Paris.
A sneak peek at the Braunschweig's Pelléas et Mélisande -- Opéra Comique in Paris
I know next-to-nothing about Mignon, an opera by Ambroise Thomas that used to be a huge success at Opéra Comique around 1870, where it was performed more than 1000 times including that infamous night of May 25 1887, when a fire destroyed the theater and 84 people died by asphyxiation.
Even though Mignon sounds ominously sweet, I'll of course go and see the premiere next Saturday at Opéra Comique.
It had to happen. Opéra Comique just screwed up their winning streak of excellent shows this year. Last night's premiere of L'Amant Jaloux [The Jealous Lover] is a poor tribute to André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, a.k.a. French Mozart.
Paris, March 15, 2010: L'Amant Jaloux, an opera by André Grétry
Oberon and Titania [Finbar Lynch & Sally Dexter] in the Jonatahan Kent's production of The Fairy Queen at the Opéra Comique in Paris, January 2010
See, even Night her self is here,
To favour your Design;
And all her Peaceful Train is near,
That Men to Sleep incline.
Let Noise and Care,
Doubt and Despair,
Envy and Spight,
(The Fiends delight)
Be ever Banish'd hence,
Let soft Repose,
Her Eye-lids close;
And murmuring Streams,
Bring pleasing Dreams;
Let nothing stay to give offence.
Bénédict (Allan Clayton) & Béatrice (Christine Rice) - Photo by Pierre Grosbois
Musical direction Emmanuel Krivine
Stage direction Dan Jemmett
Béatrice Christine Rice
Bénédict Allan Clayton
Héro Ailish Tynan
Ursule Élodie Méchain
Claudio Edwin Crossley-Mercer
Don Pedro Jérôme Varnier
Somarone Michel Trempont
Alberto Bob Goodie
Will blog tomorrow morning about the tonight's premiere of Béatrice et Bénédict. In 2 lines: Very very pleasant show, especially because of the intelligence of Dan Jemmett's production. The actors/singers are all very good.
Even though this is not very difficult to sing, it's hard to keep the delicacy of both Shakespeare and Berlioz and that strange delicacy was present out there tonight.
Dan Jemmett [with hat] and next to him wonderful Christine Rice and Allan Clayton
Remember the Shakespearean semi-opera by Purcell, The Fairy Queen, that I've been raving about? Good news is that it has been recorded in Glyndebourne and will soon be released on DVD. For your ears only, the France Musique radio recorded it in Paris [Opéra Comique, January 19 2010] and it is available (for free) on their website until March 15 ;)
Opéra Comique's love with Shakespeare continues, and already next week they will premiere the new production of Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict [based on Much Ado About Nothing]. The director is Dan Jemmett, a Brit who lives and works in Paris. Here is a short promotional video:
I especially expect my 2 young favs to do well: Allan Clayton, a Brit who bursts with talent & whom we saw last year in Opéra Comique as a brilliant Albert Herring; and Edwin Crossley-Mercer, a guy with an English-Irish name and sorta Anderson Cooper-ish look but who's actually French and sings wonderfully! Add to that Christine Rice who must be very good as Béatrice, and the show has all ingredients to be a success. That's how it looks when you prepare the new production with care... I'm telling you, Opéra Comique is in love with Shakespeare!
Yours Truly will of course be at the premiere [February 24] ;)
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
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
