Another frustrating season: Lyon 2009-10

So, yesterday evening Serge Dorny, GM of the Opéra de Lyon, proudly introduced us to his next season, that he "humbly" described as a season of accomplishments centered around the theme of wandering.

As a matter of fact, the presence of Dorny in Lyon has been a strange kind of accomplishment: he successfully managed to ignore the monuments of opera, the French repertoire and the first-half of the XIXth century altogether and turned the House into a kind of experimental laboratory for XXth century (or even XXIth century) operas.

After quite a few seasons of that regime, you'd be crying for classicism as well. And once again, I'm left with this daunting and harrowing question: when will someone finally offer Dorny a new job so that he can get the hell out of Lyon?

I must admit however the new season has a clear highlight (for those who like the music involved, that is): the world premiere of Kaija Saariaho's latest piece, Emilie, an opera in 9 scenes composed for Karita Mattila, who will effectively sing the 4 performances schedules in early March (the opera will then inaugurate the exchange program Dorny finalized with Pierre Audi and the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam where it will be performed for 3 nights at the end of March ; Michel van der Aa's After life is the production Audi will send to Lyon in late March).

Karita Mattila is, desperately enough, the only attractive singer to come to Lyon next year. As usual, Dorny failed in securing attractive casts, and Puccini's Manon Lescaut (Jan/Feb) is even listed without a name for Manon (a very frustrating trick, if you ask me).
It's worse on the conductors front, as Dorny, ending his 3-opera cycle around Mozart and Da Ponte (Don Giovanni to open the season in October) couldn't convince William Christie, who led the first 2 pieces (Nozze and Tito), to come back and finish the job.

By the way, Dorny confirmed that all three operas will be performed again for the 2010-11 season. Seeing how unattractive the cast of Don Giovanni is, I'm guessing I'll wait til next year in hopes of an improvement there.

This 2009-10 season is basically a showcase of Russian operas.
For Christmas, Dorny chose to exhume Macha Makeïeff and Jérôme Deschamps's production of Chostakovitch's Moska, Cheremushki, and the three Tchaïkowski's productions of Peter Stein will be performed altogether in a pretentious "Pouchkine Festival" (April and May) that will feature Mazeppa, Oneguin and The Queen of Spade as well as two concerts. Dorny prided himself on being able to create an homogeneous company for the occasion, and assured us Peter Stein would make a lot of changes to his direction (which frankly is pretty blend and unimaginative, so that clearly can't hurt, can it?).

The season will then end with Humperding's Hänsel und Gretel in the production Laurent Pelly created for the Glyndebourne Festival last summer (June) and two performances of last year's success, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, directed by José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu (July 16 and 17). José Van Dam will come on Nov. 8 for a concert around Fauré, Duparc and Poulenc; Jérémie Rhorer and his ensemble will (attempt to) play Mozart on Jan.17 and principal conductor Kazushi Ono will conduct the remaining concerts scheduled.

Dorny chose the slogan "Entrez sans frapper" for the season. In my perspective, he should substitute it for "Leave without notice".

[The new season is online].  

Further reading: - "En avance la musique!", Libé Lyon

Opéra National de Paris 2009-2010

Better late than never... Here are my comments about the 2009-10 season of the Paris Opera (Nicolas Joël's first season).

• The season will open with Charles Gounod's Mireille, directed by Nicolas Joël (Sept.14 to Oct.14, Garnier). Clearly not the masterpiece Faust is, this light opera marks at least the comeback of Gounod to the Opéra de Paris. The cast is rather unexciting (Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo and Franck Ferrari in the main roles). Marc Minkowsky will conduct the Paris Opera Orchestra and I must say it is quite a surprise to see him choose such a repertoire. I wonder what reading he has of Gounod.
• The revival of Laurent Pelly's 2006 production of L'Elisir d'Amore is a guaranted sales success, as the cast features Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon (Oct.10 to 25, Bastille); the two will also sing in Mozart's Idomeneo in Jan. (Luc Bondy's production from 2006 , Garnier)
• Korngold's Die Tote Stadt is coming in Paris in the Willy Decker's production that premiered in Salzburg in 2004 and has already traveled to Vienna last year and London in February (Oct.9 to 27, Bastille)
• The new production of Bellini's La Sonnambula will surely be the event of the season in Paris, with Natalie Dessay coming back at the Paris Opera for the first time since her Lucias in Oct.2006 (Evelino Pidò conducting, Michele Pertusi as Rodolfo and Javier Camarena as Elvino, Jan.25 to Feb.23, Bastille); Natalie Dessay will also sing the tiny part of Musetta in La Bohème (Oct.29 to Nov.29, Bastille)
• Rossini's La Donna del Lago will allow for the rare opportunity to hear Juan Diego Florez in Garnier (June 18 to 30), with Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona and Roberto Abbado conducting.
• Other noticeable facts: Rameau's Platée (Laurent Pelly prod., Marc Minkowsky conducting his Choeur et musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble) in December (Garnier); Marcelo Alvarez as Andrea Chénier (Dec., Bastille); Jonas Kaufmann as Werther in Jan. (but unfortunately with Michel Plasson conducting);
• Selected revivals: Corine Sereau's 2002 production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Graham Vick's Don Carlo from 1998

All and all, I can't say a season full of revivals is exciting, but at least it's not such a bad start for Nicolas Joël.

Leïla en Pologne

[basically my summary of the opera, after Leïla, the female role of Les Pêcheurs de Perles]  

Le Roi Malgré Lui

Opéra comique en 3 actes d'Emmanuel Chabrier (1887)

Livret d'Emile de Najac et Paul Burani

Revival of the 2005 production of Laurent Pelly and Agathe Mélinand

Henri de Valois, roi de Pologne - Jean-Sébastien Bou

Minka - Magali Léger

Le Duc de Fritelli - Franck Leguérinel

Alexina, Duchesse de Fritelli - Sophie Marin-Degor

Le Comte de Nangis - Gordon Gietz

Laski, grand palatin - Nabil Suliman

Conduction - Claire Levacher

Orchestra and chorus of the Opéra de Lyon

March 3 2009 

© Gérard Ansellem

 

The piece

You know you're not headed for a masterpiece when you realize how the music of Le Roi Malgré Lui, which premiered in 1887, sounds awfully like operas composed 50 years before it. Still, as I like French operas from that time, I found some qualities to the score, although one could only think about Auber, Thomas or even Gounod quite a few times.

This comic opera sure doesn't carry with it a special aura of originality, but the score is overall well-balanced and easy to follow. Of course there's no emotional dimension ever, but that's not the purpose anyway. The libretto is not very smart either, and the storyline is also typical of the XIXth century: a silly situation, royalty, a conspiracy, a loving slave and a happy ending. Basically your average love-story movie right from Hollywood, 21st century.

This is the tale of a French duke that is appointed king of Poland and hates his new country. He wants to leave, as do most of the Polish court and his Italian chambellan Fritteli. Add to that the necessary orientalism for the time in the face of the slave Minka, a love triangle between the King, Fritteli and his wife, a chorus whose sole goal was to please La Censure, "Par l'Evangile et Notre-Dame" (Acte 2 scène 9) and other forgettable and complicated ideas.

Henri de Valois, ©Opéra de Lyon

 

The music

One (and by one, I mean me) realizes even more how extatic Riccardo Muti's concert was when one goes back to the Opéra de Lyon for a comic opera. Apparently, the frivolous libretto allows for frivolous behavior from the audience as well. I was dying for some quiet, especially during the introductions of each act, but the religious atmosphere of the TCE couldn't have been further than my fellow Lyonnais' proclivities.

The reason for my deep interest in the orchestra was Claire Levacher, the unknown assistant conductor who had to step in when scheduled Carlo Franci cancelled for the whole run. She's evidently not Leonard Bernstein, but she showed some real talent last night. The opening chorus of Act 2 was a beauty, as were many other parts of the score. Overall, she can improve on the emotional side (though obviously, conducting a comic opera doesn't help), and focus more on the strings. I honestly didn't expect at all such a good work.

Hopefully she'll be given the opportunity to conduct again in this house. This sure would be an excellent idea.


The overall quality of the cast was excellent, both singing and acting. On the negative side, Sophie Marin-Degor as Fritteli's wife made a very poor impression on me, both with her acting and her singing. Other that that, this was really fun and vocally harmonious to follow.
Franck Leguérinel was the star of the evening for me. His timbre is beautiful and his singing is very vibrant and honest; his acting skills are pretty good also.

Minka, ©Opéra de Lyon

 

The staging

This is probably the best production I've seen from Laurent Pelly.

First of all, it's very funny, and doesn't really fall to the ridiculous side Pelly often slides into. It may sometimes be a bit over the top, especially the way he handles the singers' moves (nobody is ever walking, they're all rushing as if the House was on fire or something).

But, contrary to my recurrent critics about Pelly's sets, these ones are actually beautiful, as are the costumes. This gives a unity to this production that really allows to focus more on the story and the numerous hilarious tricks Pelly added to the action (most of them being a smart illustration of the lack of interest of the libretto). A very interesting revival indeed.

The Frittelis, ©Opéra de Lyon

 

The cost of composing an opera

Interesting article in Le Monde today about the creation of a new opera, "Avec Philippe Boesmans, dans les secrets d'un opéra nouveau".

According to Gérard Mortier, the most paid composer these days is Philip Glass (no surprise there), whose salary could compare to the one Laurent Pelly received for his Fille du Régiment, "Le mieux payé aujourd'hui est Philip Glass qui reçoit à peu près ce qui est versé à un metteur en scène connu pour un opéra coproduit par trois maisons. Au prorata du temps passé, un compositeur reste donc beaucoup plus mal payé qu'un chef d'orchestre ou un metteur en scène...".

Another interesting fact is that 70-year period after a composer's death where you are required to pay royalties to his heirs, meaning for instance playing any Richard Strauss' opera (he died in 1949) costs as much as any performance of Glass or any other composer still alive.

Pelly's Schicchi

Gianni Schicchi 

Music - Giaccomo Puccini

Libretto - Giovacchino Forzano

Opéra de Paris, Palais Garnier (programmed with Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole)

2004 - Mezzo Broadcast

Gianni Schicchi - Alessandro Corbelli

Lauretta - Patrizia Ciofi

Conductor - Seiji Ozawa

Director - Laurent Pelly

In a nutshell, the staging might have worked, hadn't it been for the costumes and sets (and that's even before mentionning the ultimate boredom generated by the lightning).

The libretto being obviously very simplistic doesn't provide for anything but a Labiche-like vaudeville but still. Emphasizing too much the comic elements only proves how little faith Laurent Pelly had in Puccini's music. And the huge nose, "une péninsule"[1], Schicci is disguised with is too much a distraction from this piece - the caricature is so finesse-less it's outragious to Puccini's work.

Furthermore, the fifties atmosphere Pelly chose has been seen so many times in Paris over the recent years it has become almost unbearable. This facette of Pelly - that is overwhelming in half his productions - is the reason why I won't ever consider him as a great director; consistancy is something he desperately lacks. A quick word on the cast; Corbelli's Schicci is the only outstanding performance - and Patrizia Ciofi is rather disappointing (voice and stage presence problems).

YouTube extracts:
- "O mio bambino caro", Patrizia Ciofi
- end of the opera  


[1] Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac

Laurent Pelly and Offenbach

Production
Laurent Pelly
Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, 2000 (revival at the ENO in may 2006)
 

Cast

Hélène - Felicity Lott
Paris - Yann Beuron
Ménélas - Michel Sénéchal
Agamemnon - Laurent Naouri
Calchas - François Le Roux

Marc Minkwoski
Musiciens du Louvre

First, I want to emphasize how Felicity Lott is the true jewel of this DVD. Her singing and acting are indeed very convincing.


As for the production itself, as usual in Pelly's team, the work of Agathe Mélinand rewriting and updating the spoken parts is hilarious and very well done. Unfortunately for Pelly, that's when the compliments stop. The choreography by Laura Scozzi is off, the use of the chorus on stage is as awful as can be (without even mentioning their singing performance which is no better than average), the costumes are noticeably unbearable and the overall result is less than convincing.

Pelly, when staging a comic opera (especially Offenbach's), always has the same approach: rewriting the libretto with modern references and staging the action in the contemporary world (not in La Fille du Régiment where he chose WWI, with was a breath of fresh air). His sets are always over the top to create a kind of parallel reality where time and space collide into a clownesque atmosphere, a lot like I Pagliacci, if you think of it (especially with the dream inside the dream - when Hélène ends up in bed with Paris while Ménélas returns, with sheep appearing on stage); that impression is reinforced by the way he defines the movements of the actors or the chorus: always speedy, staccatoish and excessive. The problem is, it gets redundant after a few productions. And redundant inevitably leads to boredom.

Take this production of La Belle Hélène for instance.

Many of the tricks he used there could be interesting, hadn't he recycled almost all of them for last December La Vie Parisienne here in Lyon. I think the anachronism between the singing parts and the spoken dialogue is one of the true forte of his work.
The problem specifically here is that the characters are very unupdatable. Agamenmon wearing a bath sheet, Ajax with a broom on top of his helmet, Calchas dressed as a caveman, all that is nothing if not awkward and ugly.

Pelly chose to focus the action around the dysfunctional wedding of Ménélas (a very funny Michel Sénéchal) and Hélène (this, in itself, is a valid point), making the rest of the characters outcasts. Whether he intended to purposely create such an mess is the big question I have regarding this production, but the result leaves me very sceptical. The whole opera could be entitled "Hélène's dream"; the sole element of the set in the first act is the bed, in the center of the stage, where Hélène and Ménélas sleep as an old couple would do (far apart); Calchas, appearing in the second scene, is definitely portrayed as her imaginary friend, always offering a shoulder to cry on.

Everything else (the chorus, the kings, Paris) is her little fantasy and her salvation. The intention is laudable, the result doesn't live up to the expectations. And the blame falls mainly on Pelly, for not being able to make something beautiful out of it. I know beauty is not on the directors' minds these days, but I think it's a shame to sacrifice the aesthetics on the altar of intellectual supremacy.

"Salut à la France", not so much in French though

Overall, this run of La Fille du Régiment is a bit disappointing.

It took me a while to realize why, because Juan Diego Flórez was as wonderful and exquisite as always, Natalie Dessay doing what she's best at: acting in a comic opera* is a joy to watch.
Felicity Palmer and Alessandro Corbelli were irreproachable and, having previously seen the broadcast from last year's run at Covent Garden, I already knew I liked the work of Laurent Pelly on this one (despite the usual ugly set of Chantal Thomas - one has to understand Pelly always works with the same team and Chantal Thomas is the set designer on this overall pretty good team).

The first issue of this run is Marian Seldes, who filled in last minute for Zoe Cadwell. She doesn't obviously have the comic talent of Dawn French and Agathe Mélinand, who adapts the librettos of Pelly's productions (probably the best element of that team), was well aware of the situation, as she added some replicas, in a desperate attempt to compensate for the lack of comic presence of Seldes.
Most noticeably, whereas Dawn French was only justifying the absence of Duke Scipio (to be married with Marie) by "olympic obligations" (in English dans le texte), Marian Seldes also adds "Bobsleigh team" (also in English).
The other problem with Seldes is her French diction, or her lack of rather. For a native French like myself, this was truly unbearable.
Furthermore, the notary (Jack Wetherall) was also disastrous (Covent Garden had the intelligence to cast a French actor, Jean-Pierre Blanchard); these two ruined the first scenes of Act II (despite the efforts of Felicity Palmer).

"Tous les trois réunis", scene 10 of Act II
Covent Garden 2007

Yet those points can seem picky to anyone who does not understand French (i.e. the vast majority of the Met's audience). And they can only partially explain my relative disappointment. Nor could the (also) very poor diction of the chorus or its stiffness (once again, chapeau bas to Covent Garden for the excellence of its chorus - both singing and acting).

The "ironing scene", "Au bruit de la guerre", scene 3 of Act I
Ken Howard for the Metropolitan Opera, April 21, 2008

fin de l'air "Au bruit de la guerre", scene 3 of Act I
Covent Garden 2007

My real discontent is the conduction of Marco Armiliato.
Or more accurately, the instinctive comparison I made with Bruno Campanella, who brought fuzz and lightness to this piece in London. In perspective, although far from mediocre, Armiliato does not play in the same league as Campanella. I won't say his reading of that piece is rigid or heavy, but it's undoubtedly the main reason for my relative upset.

"Salut à la France", scene 7 of Act II
Sara Krulwich for the New York Times, Met April 21, 2008

Relative because, all and all, nobody can come close to the combination Dessay/JDF in that particular piece.

scene 7 of Act II
Covent Garden 2007

Met Photo Gallery of La Fille here.

* It must be said that Dessay didn't get all the credit she deserved on opening night. After the arias of bravery of JDF (including the perfect 18 high Cs), her "Il faut partir" was sensational and brought tears to my eyes.
But then again, JDF was also sensational in his emotional aria, "Pour me rapprocher de Marie" (surprisingly full of sensitivity and honesty).

Opéra de Lyon 2008-09

Nice cover for the new program, wouldn't you say?

One could give credit to Lyon Opera director Serge Dorny for his consistency. I won't.


The role of a GM should not be to ostensibly build a season exclusively based on his personal taste. Yet once again for the 2008-09 season, the schedule will be filled with Mozart (La Clemenza di Tito directed by Jérémie Röhrer in a new production by Georges Lavaudant, Oct.2008), Russian composers (Prokofiev's The Gambler, Jan/Feb.2009) and 20th century operas (a mere 5 out of 10 this time). I'll admit in that context, I was flabbergasted to see he did find some room to schedule La Traviata (as unoriginal and redundant as this choice may be).


The other problem with Dorny is how unbalanced the 2008-09 season will be.

On one hand, he chose operas that are either rarely performed anywhere (Franck Martin's oratorio Le vin herbé from 1940 in the 2007 production of Willy Decker already seen during the Ruhr Triennale -reviews in German here and there with many pictures -; In The Penal Colony by Philip Glass after F.Kafka, Jan/Feb.2009) or specifically in Lyon (Berg's Lulu in yet another Peter Stein production in April 2009, Britten's Death in Venice in May, Prokofiev's The Gambler); on the other hand alas, these previous selections seem to have exhausted all of his neurons, and he ends up filling the rest of the schedule with unimaginative choices that ultimately savage any chance of having a coherent season (although of course he claims otherwise and is presumptuous enough to entitle this season "Lost heros").
In this unattractive patchwork theme, Lyon will see again Chabrier's Le Roi Malgré Lui (revival of the 2005 production directed by Laurent Pelly, Feb/April 2009), Strauss' Die Fledermaus (that has been played with consistency once a decade for the past 30 years here: 1979-80, 87-88 and 95-96) and Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito (already played in 1982-83 and 94-95, another "once a decade" tradition Dorny perpetuates).

Le vin herbé, Willy Decker's production, 2007
Paul Leclaire

About Serge Dorny and the way he spoke tonight (can someone please take the time to teach him how to speak French properly? He has been living here for some time now, yet he still can't finish a sentence without something wrong in it - either grammar or vocabulary).

As usual, he managed to make me leave early (and to prevent me from attending the Giselle ballet, which just shows how talented he is on the accessibility part -see below-). When he started his speech by stating very demagogically that the Opéra de Lyon is internationally famous ("de renommée internationale"), I almost chocked there. Seriously? Can anyone please wake him up?

Also, I wanted to point out another quote so typical of him (don't you dare say I'm blinded by my feelings, Dorny is the one encouraging my dispair): "Il faut que l'opéra soit accessible à tout le monde. Dans le choix des répertoires, c'est aussi extrêmement important. Il faut quand même que je vous fasse plaisir, que JE me fasse plaisir" (strong emphasis on the "je"), which can be translated as "Opera has to be accessible to everyone. It's particularly important to keep that in mind when choosing the repertoire. I have to entertain you, I have to entertain myself". [I'm so not dreaming when I focus on his self-centered side].
He also added later on, that, to him, the score of Strauss's Die Fledermaus was one of the most beautiful ones in classical music (seriously?), showing, once again, his taste is the only one that matters when it comes to building the new seasons.
Excuse me while I go and vomit.



All in all, the highlights of the season will be:

• Anna Caterina Antonacci's concert (Jan.18 2009)
  
• the end of Donizetti's queens cycle with Anna Bolena (concert version) once again conducted by Evelino Pido (as always, coproduced with the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris), Nov.20 2008
• Ermonela Jaho in both Anna Bolena and La Traviata (she made quite an impression as Violetta a few months ago in Covent Garden), June/July 2009
  

Full brochure available for download here (pdf).

I Should Be So Lucky Lucky Lucky Lucky

[Incredible news do indeed call for inept pop song references]

Natalie Dessay, Act I, La Fille du Régiment, Covent Garden 2007

Remember when I said yesterday the best way to get tickets is to plan way ahead?
Well, that's true, for sure. To a certain extend.

"Never underestimate the power of luck" is my new motto today. And what a beautiful Sunday it has been. Full of passion, emotions and luck.
Especially full of luck.

This afternoon, I was watching, in total despair, the magnificent Covent Garden's La Fille du Régiment I also talked about yesterday. I was contemplating, with greater desolation, the fact that it will only come back in Paris in 4 years (2012). Who knows what can happen, in 4 years, to the voice of Dessay or JDF. I was therefore envying these lucky New Yorkers who will enjoy this production in April / May.

I went to check the dates of the performances, in order to schedule the day of the broadcast. But then again, and I never say that, this production is going to lack so much with the sound only.
And that's when the lightning struck.
Not only were there still few seats available for the premiere on April 21, but I am indeed on vacation on this very week.

So, ladies and gentlemen, with overwhelming emotion, I will see this fantastic production of Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment live, in a few months. How great is that seriously?



Cast

Conductor: Marco Armiliato
Marie: Natalie Dessay
Marquise of Berkenfeld: Felicity Palmer
Tonio: Juan Diego Flórez
Sulpice: Alessandro Corbelli
Duchess of Krakenthorp: Zoe Caldwell

Production: Laurent Pelly
Set Designer: Chantal Thomas
Costume Designer: Laurent Pelly
Lighting Designer: Joël Adam
Choreographer: Laura Scozzi
Associate Director/Dialogue: Agathe Mélinand (whose name is wrongly spelled on the MET's website - no luck for her there).

YouTube extracts of this production
[London / Vienna performances]

• "Chacun le dit, chacun le sait", Natalie Dessay, Act 1
  
• "Ah mes amis!", JDF, Act 1
• Begining of act 2, Dawn French
• "Le jour naissait dans le bocage", Dessay, Act 2
  
• "Pour me rapprocher de Marie", JDF, Act 2
  
• "Salut à la France", Dessay, Act 2
• Channel 4 report on the production
  

Oh and by the way, I love the weak dollar against the euro too. €450 for plane tickets from Lyon to New York, that's what I call a bargain!

La Voix Humaine, Le Chateau de Barbe Bleue

Opéra de Lyon, dans le cadre du Festival d'Opéras en un acte.
Soirée du 5 mai 2007.


La voix humaine
Tragédie lyrique en un acte de Francis Poulenc,
Texte de Jean Cocteau (1959).

Direction musicale : Juraj Valcuha
Mise en scène et costumes : Laurent Pelly

La femme : Felicity Lott



Le chateau de Barbe-Bleue
A Kékszakallù herceg vava
Opéra en un acte de Béla Bartok,
Livret de Béla Balazs (1918).

Direction musicale : Juraj Valcuha
Mise en scène et costumes : Laurent Pelly

Barbe-Bleue : Peter Fried
Judith : Hedwig Fassbender


Photos, extrait vidéo sur le site de l'Opéra, livret ici.



Préambule

Je n'avais jamais assisté à un opéra de Poulenc ou de Bartok.
Mais, d'après les extraits entendus de ci, de là, je savais que je n'étais sensible ni à l'une, ni à l'autre de ces musiques.

Depuis hier soir, je sais désormais qu'elles m'ennuient profondément.
Faute en est à la pauvreté de la ligne mélodique (carrément absente chez Poulenc) et à cette volonté de n'utiliser les instruments que de façon saccadée et courte.

Qui plus est chez Bartok, cette volonté de combler le vide mélodique par une pléthore d'instruments divers et variés qui n'apportent rien à la partition, parce qu'utilisés sporadiquement et sans réelle cohérence; orgue, xylophone, célesta, deux harpes... est particulièrement agaçante.

La Voix Humaine

Photo Opéra de Lyon

Felicity Lott était l'attraction de cette soirée, dans cette pièce courte de Poulenc, seul personnage sur scène, en permanence sollicité.

Las.
La voix, vieillie et fatiguée, était submergée dès que l'orchestre jouait en même temps, les aigus plus aussi cristallins, les graves inaudibles.
Restent la diction parfaite de Felicity Lott et son implication scénique pour rattraper un peu l'ensemble.

Photo Opéra de Lyon

La mise en scène de cet opéra est chose ardue, puisque l'action est inexistante et que le seul personnage dialogue avec un téléphone. Que Joseph, Monsieur Mon Chéri ou le vide soient au bout du fil ne change rien au dépouillement de l'action.

Dès lors, insuffler un peu de vie scénique relève de l'exploit, si tant est que le metteur en scène veuille garder l'esprit du livret.

Photo Opéra de Lyon

Laurent Pelly a choisi de placer l'action dans un appartement lyonnais et, plutôt que de faire déplacer Felicity Lott dans diverses pièces, il a choisi de bouger les meubles, littéralement, avec des mouvements incessants de décor.
C'est intéressant au début, vite rébarbatif ensuite.

Qui plus est, le découpage des décors fait que l'élément sur scène est noyé dans l'immensité désertique de la scène. J'y ai senti une atmosphère claustrophobique qui n'est pour le compte par vraiment en accord avec le livret.
Essai non concluant à mon sens.


Le Chateau de Barbe Bleue

Photo Opéra de Lyon

Les interprêtes, Peter Fried et Hedwig Fassbender, eux aussi ont peiné vocalement, en terme de puissance sonore notamment.

Les décors et les choix de mise en scène de Pelly par contre, sont admirables.
Le Chateau est traité comme le personnage central de l'oeuvre, plutôt que comme un décor figé.

De fait, ces murs suintants d'eau et de sang, comme le dit le livret, sont constamment en mouvement, créant une ambiance organique qui s'accorde merveilleusement avec la hauteur de ses murs, écrasant les personnages, remplissant tout l'espace.

L'absence de tout autre élément sur scène renforce cette impression.

Photo Opéra de Lyon

Le choix des matériaux pour les murs, molletonnés, capitonnés, participe d'une cohérence louable, les portes qui s'ouvrent sur des pièces dont le contenu, invisible, est traduit par des seuls effets lumineux (rouge sang pour la salle d'armes et de torture; jaune scintillant pour la salle du trésor; vert avec des impressions de feuilles pour les jardins; vagues bleues en mouvement pour la salle du lac).

L'ensemble est vraiment hypnotique et malsainement envoûtant.



Conclusion

Il est vraiment heureux que cette soirée puisse s'enorgueillir de cette très belle deuxième mise en scène de Pelly.

Elle aurait été ratée sans.

Critiques complémentaires

Extrait de l'article de Renaud Machart paru dans Le Monde du 23 avril:

" Déception, ici aussi, tant pour la musique que pour la mise en scène, confiée au duo Laurent Pelly et Agathe Mélinand. Les deux comparses, fameux pour leurs relectures très remaniées des opéras d'Offenbach en particulier, ont une manière assez efficace de trouver des solutions scéniques qui ne pèsent certainement pas par leur profondeur.

Pour Le Château de Barbe-bleue, chanté de très honnête façon par Hedwig Fassbender et Peter Fried, ils ont conçu des tours de passe-passe giratoires pour hautes murailles capitonnées et fait descendre des loupiotes signalétiques au fur et à mesure que les sept portes s'ouvrent.

HARMONIES DOUCES-AMÈRES

Une simple exécution en concert n'aurait pas enlevé de sa force au drame. Mais celui-ci en était dépourvu en raison d'une direction assez apathique de la part du chef slovaque Juraj Valcuha. Le Château de Barbe-bleue et ses harmonies douces-amères devraient glacer, saisir. On s'est ennuyé comme rarement au cours de cette exécution par un orchestre au son anémié, aux cordes sans substance, aux attaques et à l'intonation rarement nettes.

Dans La Voix humaine, le chef, par peur de couvrir la chanteuse britannique Felicity Lott, l'accompagne timidement, retenant constamment le son, alors que Poulenc indique que "l'oeuvre entière doit baigner dans la plus grande sensualité orchestrale".
La faute en revient à Laurent Pelly : sa scénographie, où une cheminée, un lit, un fauteuil, un dressing jouent à cache-cache et à "un petit tour et puis s'en vont", laisse le vaste plateau à découvert, sans élément réfléchissant qui permette à la voix de Felicity Lott de se projeter.
Celle qui est une interprète d'ordinaire bouleversante de La Voix humaine en perdait, elle aussi, de sa substance, entraînée dans cet agaçant ratage, chic et toc. "

Extrait de l'article de Christian Merlin paru dans Le Figaro du 23 avril:

" Grand moment, enfin, avec le couplage de La Voix humaine, de Poulenc, et du Château de Barbe-Bleue, de Bartok. Laurent Pelly y fait naître deux univers grâce aux décors parlants de Chantal Thomas : quelques instantanés d'un appartement bourgeois lyonnais pour le premier, un château vivant pour le second, dont les murs bougent et respirent comme une matière organique avant de se refermer sur Judith.


Faire du château le personnage principal de cette action intérieure si difficile à traduire visuellement : voilà une idée simple mais géniale ! Autant le chef Eivind Gullberg Jensen avait montré quelques signes d'inexpérience lyrique dans la soirée Bizet-Puccini, autant le tout aussi jeune Juraj Valcuha passe de Poulenc à Bartok comme si cela allait de soi, avec à la fois le sens du style et du son, l'instinct du drame et le respect des voix.

Tour de force aussi pour l'orchestre, car si trois chefs et quatre metteurs en scène ont été convoqués, les instrumentistes jouent sans se relayer, avec un niveau technique et une endurance qui ne fléchissent pas.

Avec leurs voix rugueuses, Peter Fried et Hedwig Fassbender évitent le piège esthétisant qui rendait trop belle la dernière production parisienne. Mais ce que l'on emportera à jamais dans ses souvenirs, c'est Felicity Lott dans La Voix humaine. Car une telle leçon de diction, de chant et de théâtre, cela fait partie des moments dont on est fier, plus tard, de dire : « J'y étais. » "

A lire aussi, la critique de ForumOpera.