At the Lausanne Opera, a luminous “Guillaume Tell” by Rossini opens the season – rts.ch

Claude Cortese, new director of the Lausane Opera, is not afraid. Because putting on “Guillaume Tell” at the Lausanne Opera is a protean challenge. Rossini’s opera, created in 1829 in Paris, lasts in its complete version more than four hours, is written in French based on Schiller’s play and requires an impressive number of soloists and choristers on stage.

However, this work appeared to him “as obvious” when thinking about his first production as director, explains the Marseillais in the program Du bon pied on October 5. Just as it seemed essential to him to offer the Lausanne public a new production. “In a production theater like the Lausanne Opera, it was unimaginable not to start with a creation,” he underlines.

Choir and soloists in movement

On the Lausanne stage, the duration of Rossini’s score was reduced to 3h45 with an intermission. The direction was entrusted to Bruno Ravella, assisted by dancer Carmine de Amicis for the choreography.

After the finely crafted opening by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (OCL), a famous part of which resembles a cavalry charge, the curtain rises on a lakeside painting by Ferdinand Hodler. Villagers and peasants, dressed in costumes straight out of paintings by the same artist, celebrate Swiss values ​​like “work” and “love”.

“Poetry and humanity”

“I like to find poetry and humanity in a work. In the case of ‘Guillaume Tell’, the story can sometimes be a little difficult to understand, especially in the fourth act. I wanted a fairly readable reading (.. .) and something truly beautiful,” says director Bruno Ravella.

The scene, pastoral, is resplendent as the costumes contribute to the harmony of the picture, broken at the end of the act by the brutal irruption of the soldiers of Gessler, the tyrannical governor who keeps the Helvetii under his yoke. The baritone Jean-Sébastien Bou perfectly portrays a pensive William Tell worried about his homeland, who will reveal himself over the course of the acts to be as skilled a rallyer of troops as he is a legendary crossbowman.

From warm and intimate, the atmosphere then takes on a darker tone in Act II, like the black forest, as if charred, in which the son of the respected peasant Melchtal, Arnold, and the Habsburg princess Mathilde wander, who confess their love to each other. In the formidably difficult role of Arnold, which requires stratospheric high notes, tenor of Bordeaux origin Julien Dran fulfills his contract perfectly.

As for the Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska, she also convinces in the vocally demanding role of Mathilde and composes a strong woman, who opposes the tyrant Gessler and protects Tell’s son, Jemmy. In this last role, Canadian soprano Elisabeth Boudreault is breathtaking, teasing and youthful at will. With a cast largely in role playing (another desire of the new director) and essentially French-speaking, the vocal set contributes to the success of the evening.

The famous apple episode

The fate of the valiant Confederates is sealed in Act II. “Either independence, or death!”, insist the peasants of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden who unite against the occupier. Act III recounts the famous episode of the apple placed on the head of Tell’s son, which the latter, after a heartbreaking tune accompanied by the solo cello, bursts to the cheers of the crowd.

Taken by Gessler and his henchmen on the stormy lake towards the prison, William Tell leaves them alone in the fourth and last act by jumping on a rock then killing Gessler with his crossbow. He is then joined by Arnold and the Confederates, who announce the end of the enemy occupation. Mathilde and Arnold, William Tell and his family, all meet up and celebrate Helvetia finally liberated.

A deeply human William Tell

Returning to the founding story of Switzerland, Rossini’s opera shows a deeply human, endearing William Tell, refusing to sacrifice his child on the altar of his values. At the Lausanne Opera, the spectator is carried away by this flamboyant romanticism, magnified by sets and costumes that are both simple and refined.

At the helm, the Roman conductor Francesco Lanzillotta gives the OCL an energetic direction, bringing out all the nuances and finesse of Rossini’s music while brilliantly negotiating the formidable rhythms of the score.

At the end of the premiere, Sunday October 6, the audience stood up and applauded the success of this season opener. Over the next few years, Lausanne fans of opera will have the opportunity to broaden their horizons: Claude Cortese has already announced that he would like to offer titles from the great repertoire that have never been performed before in the 2025-26 season. been performed at the Lausanne Opera.

Melissa Härtel

“Guillaume Tell” by Rossini, directed by Bruno Ravella, with Jean-Sébastien Bou, Olga Kulchynska, Julien Dran, Elisabeth Boudreault, Géraldine Chauvet, Frédéric Caton, Luigi De Donato, the OCL under the direction of Francesco Lanzillotta, Opéra from Lausanne, to be seen again on October 8, 11, 13 and 15, 2024.

The opera will be filmed and recorded; it will be broadcast on October 24, 2024 on RTS 1 and November 2, 2024 on Espace 2.