Under the mandate of Alexander Neef at the head of the Paris Opera, Peter Sellars will have been served: resumption, less than a year ago, of Beatrice of Tendaby Bellini. And now, Castor and Polluxin a new production by the famous director. From him, we did not expect such sobriety: a single and same decor inhabits the ” lyrical tragedy in a prologue and five acts » by Mr. Rameau, of which the Palais Garnier receives, this is a first, the primitive version, that of 1737. Because in 1754, the composer will offer a revised version, removing the “prayer for peace” which precisely constitutes this prologue in the form of an allegory, to replace it, among other substantial modifications, with an entirely new first act.
We can clearly see what motivated the American in this transposition to contemporary times, of a mythological drama associating the Dioscuri, twin gods rivals in their love for Telaire, daughter of the Sun, but unequal in life because Castor is a warrior promised to fight, and mortal, while their father, Jupiter, endowed Pollux, his brother, with the privilege of immortality. In short, our Geminis of the zodiac will both have to demonstrate a lot of virtue to triumph over the fate which has subjected them to so many mixed trials. There is every chance that, for the most part, today’s public does not understand at all what is at stake in the libretto, as the figures of the ancient fable are decidedly no longer familiar to us at all.
However, does Peter Sellars help us? In the center of the tray, a shapeless clip-clap of a faded red; in the foreground, a low wooden chest, IKEA style; at the back, a shower cubicle closed by white plastic curtains; on the right a kitchen area with its cupboards, its sink; the small table and chairs, obviously; and then, of course, the fridge-freezer; on the left side a bed with disordered sheets and blanket, flanked by a kind of club chair in a tired cream-white… As a backdrop to these elements of F2-style furniture “that’s enough for me” without walls, a screen full video which, from one end of the show to the other, will broadcast in turn, in dissolvesnocturnal urban scenes (mute) alternating with peripheral roads, concrete towers hollowed out and tagged from top to bottom, high voltage lines, power station; paintings which will be succeeded by starry vaults, galaxies, constellations, aerial or stratospheric views of metropolises, inviolate landscapes, as extracts from Earth seen from the sky (Arthus-Bertrand)… until the day dawns on Mars or Venus, we know, on the agitated bowels of our planet, and on our beloved globe returned in fine to his celestial glory… Videographer Alex Macinnis did a good job. However, does this enlighten us?
Also read: Huppert in Seoul
Nothing is less certain. Decor, accessories and panoplies swallow up the music from start to finish, to which Sellars decidedly refuses its rights and prerogatives. Thus the excellent tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen, who we could already hear last year in this same venue in Jason, in Medeaby Charpentier, another peak of the Baroque, does he portray here a Beaver in military fatigues, of course. Thus the demons and cronies extract themselves from the sofa bed, the fridge or the toy box (which also serves as a tomb) in a way that involuntarily borders on burlesque. But above all, omnipresent as well as anachronistic, the contortionist choreography, signed by Sellars’ old accomplice Cal Hunt, originally from Brooklyn, associating break danceon the ground, krump (played here by the star “Jamsy”) and what is commonly called flex danceor flexing (“Sage”, “Storm”, “Kendrickble”… for aficionados), arbitrarily places on the dramaturgy a ballet of Afro-Caribbean expression as vain as it is overwhelming. Nippled, naturally, in the caillera style which was essential, these colorful dancers (and dancers) merge in an exercise which, superimposed on the lyrical score, ends up improperly diverting the attention it requires.
A decision that is all the more regrettable given that at the direction of his Utopia Orchestra and Choirs, the Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis restores this baroque jewel to its dazzlingness and delicacy, also relying on a top-notch cast: black in the role of Télaïre, soprano Jeanine De Bique is undoubtedly the star of this production. Paralyzed throughout by his performance (not one untimely applause during these three hours of opera), the audience will wait for the curtain to fall to give him a delirious ovation.
As for your servant, it is towards Laurence Kilsby that he also casts his vote: from the short pages that Rameau offers him in the guise of Love, the young British tenor creates moments of pure delight: soft timbre, perfect articulation , sober and refined presence. We can’t wait to hear him at the Opéra-Comique, in Samson (March 17 to 23) then, next June in the role of Alphée in Lully, whose lyric tragedy the Royal Opera of Versailles is programming Proserpina, in concert version… Trained at the Paris Opera Academy, Kilsby, I tell you, has not finished making people talk.
-Castor and Pollux. Opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. With Reinoud Van Mechelen, Marc Mauillon, Jeanine De Bique. Director: Teodor Currentzis. Director: Peter Sellars. Utopia Orchestra and Choir.
Duration: 3h20.
Palais Garnier, January 28, 30, February 1, 7, 11, 13, 15, 19, 7:30 p.m. February 23, 2:30 p.m.
Causeur lives only through its readers, this is the only guarantee of its independence.
To support us, buy Causeur on newsstands or subscribe!
