Paris Opera returns: “We dive straight into the fryer oil, it sparkles”

If the Place de la Bastille is still relatively calm at the end of summer, at the Opera the holidays are well and truly over. Nicolas Marty, director of the stage, is waiting for us to start the day. A stage directorhe explains to us, manages all the managers who are in charge of the smooth running of the shows ” He describes the atmosphere of those first days: ” It’s a bit like going back to school, every time we ask ourselves when we come back from vacation if we’ll still know how to do our job. And then finally the reflexes come back quickly. It’s a rich start to the school year, with revivals, with light works, like The Brigands or Falstaff. It’s always nice to do a light work at the Paris Opera, it warms the heart to see everyone’s smiles.

“I didn’t stop playing the violin this summer”

Liebermann Hall, the Opera Orchestra rehearses Falstaff by Verdi, conducted by Michael Schønwandt. Petteri Iivonen, first violin soloist, returned from vacation the day before on the last possible flight to enjoy his native country, Finland, to the end, and he is very enthusiastic: ” It’s always very exciting to come back after a long vacation and start a new season. It makes me happy to see people smiling and happy to be together again ».

This is the first time that the musician has performed the score of Falstaff, after a summer break that wasn’t really one: ” Personally I didn’t stop playing the violin this summer, I participated in many festivals, I gave many concerts and I played for myself, so as not to lose my touch. But for other people it is important to rest to allow the body to recover after the season. It’s very personal I think.

The season promises to be very interesting, adds the violinist, who is looking forward to it Pelleas and Melisande in the spring. Without a musical director since the resignation of Gustavo Dudamel last May, would the ensemble also be eagerly awaiting the arrival of his successor? It’s a very interesting topic for the whole orchestra. I can’t really comment on the situation but we are very happy and we will see. But this person will not start this year obviously, we have to make the plans well in advance ».

“We started rehearsals very quickly”

So suspense, and change of scenery since we now cross the stage and some construction work to join the rehearsals of Madame Butterfly by Puccini. Soprano Eleonora Buratto rehearses with Marina Frigeni, collaborator on the staging and conductor Speranza Scappucci. Facing them is Elsa Grima, general production manager. And for her too, the start of the school year has been busy: ” Butterfly is a complicated show, we are taking over Bob Wilson’s production which is very heavy from a learning point of view for the singers and so we started rehearsals very quickly. We had to rehearse three times a day, we were very busy.”

Does she remember her first day back at school? Yes it was Les Brigands*, produced by Jérôme Deschamps and directed by Louis Langrée. I was little, I was young,” she laughs.

And it is on the highly anticipated new production of Brigands Offenbach, in a production that must still remain secret from Barrie Kosky, who is working with our last interviewee. Responsible for clothing at Garnier, Béatrice Gohard made her first appearance at the Paris Opera 34 years ago. Since then, she says, many things have changed: ” It was the opening of Bastille, there were far fewer shows, far less opera, everything was done by hand, the inventories, the conducts, so it was at the same time perhaps more complicated but much simpler too. It was different “Different, like every start of the season,” Nicolas Marty sums up, ” Back to school is never the same, but it’s always exciting. We dive straight into the fryer oil, it sparkles right away ».