The Song of the Earth returns to France at the Théâtre du Capitole

Nine years after its creation at the Palais Garnier for the Paris National Opera Ballet in 2015, John Neumeier’s piece returns to a French stage for a series of six performances. This time it is entrusted to the performers of the Ballet de l’Opéra national du Capitole.

A cosmic electric blue dance floor, a glowing sphere evoking a planet, an inclined square of lawn symbolizing the link to nature, a mirror calling for introspection… it is without a doubt that The Song of the Earth immediately invites the viewer to metaphysical contemplation. It must be said that Gustav Mahler’s music is itself imbued with themes such as death, life, beauty, since it was composed following the death of the composer’s daughter and the announcement of her illness. heart, circumstances unfortunately conducive to philosophical reflection.

John Neumeier is not his first setting of the Austrian composer’s music, as this is his 15th adaptation of a work by Mahler. In 1965, he himself was one of the performers of the version of Song of the Earth by Kenneth Macmillan, an experience which influenced his own creations throughout the rest of his career. After the Paris Opera, the Hamburg Ballet and the National Ballet of China, the Ballet du Capitole is the fourth company to present this creation.

Like Gustav Mahler going through his mourning, John Neumeier immersed himself in the Chinese poems which inspired the symphonic and vocal work, as well as in the numerous writings analyzing it from all its angles. But once in the studio, it is no longer the cerebral that takes precedence, but the emotion. So that the dancers can make the choreography their own, Neumeier goes so far as to adapt the movement to the personality and emotional sensitivity of each performer. Thus, the piece remains “alive” and takes slightly different forms from company to company. In Paris, the sloping rectangle of grass remained motionless; in Toulouse, he travels on the set.

The Song of the Earth is not a narrative work stricto sensu, but nevertheless allows the sketching of a certain number of characters that the spectator is free to qualify according to his interpretation: the woman in white, the solitary man, the duo of friends, the tea carrier … The figures who inhabit the stage are nevertheless strictly binary, the men and women being clearly differentiated in particular by their attitudes and their costumes (on one side jeans, t-shirt and belt; on the other, long white, blue dress or mahogany). The women are delicate in the gestures of their arms and let themselves be carried gracefully during multiple duets. The men take powerful support from the ground in a grand béise seconds and trace intense lines starting from their back to the tips of their fingers.

The gestures are characterized by a classical base strongly infused with contemporary dance with regard to the use of the back, the work on misalignment and the search for great joint range in the use of the arms. Just as the number of performers varies depending on the movement played by the orchestra (accompanied by mezzo-soprano Anaïk Morel and tenor Airam Hernández), the lighting adapts to the tempo and the theme of the music to sometimes offer a nocturnal atmosphere, sometimes summer brightness.

The Song of the Earth is a work that certainly lets the maturity, experience and erudition of its choreographer shine through. However, it is one of those works which has the quality and the fault of being double-edged. Spectators lucky enough to be sensitive to the proposition will be able to enjoy an emotional and lyrical journey full of beauty and poetry. Others, on the other hand, will risk finding the time to be long and the choreographic writing monotonous.

Photo credits: © David Herrero

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Capitole Theater, Toulouse. 21-IV-2024. The Song of the Earth. Danced by the Ballet of the Opéra national du Capitole, accompanied by musicians from the Orchester national du Capitole. Musical direction: Nicolas André. Choreography, sets, costumes and lighting: John Neumeier. Music: Gustav Mahler. Mezzo-soprano: Anaïk Morel. Tenor: Airam Hernández.
Performers: Natalia de Froberville, Ramiro Gómez Samón, Alexandre de Oliveira Ferreira, Alexandra Surodeeva, Marlen Fuerte Castro, Rouslan Savdenov, Philippe Solano, Kayo Nazakato, Tiphaine Prévost, Nina Queiroz, Minoru Kaneko, Kleber Rebello, Baptiste Claudon, Sofia Caminiti, Georgina Giovannoni, Nino Gulordava, Saki Isonaga, Juliette Itou, Lian Sánchez Castro, Marie Varlet, Eneko Amorós Zaragoza, Charley Austin, Amaury Barreras Lapinet, Mathéo Bourreau, Simon Catonnet, Jérémy Leydier, Lorenzo Misuri, Aleksa Žikić, Nancy Osbaldeston, Julie Dubrana, Luna Jušić, Marina Montibeller, Capucine Perrot, Justine Scarabello, Luca Dario Calcante, Daniel Rodriguez Domenech, Stefano Capoferri, Haruka Tonooka, Elisa Blot.