2023-04-21 10:00:00
Dn a sumptuous Scottish castle worthy of Balmoral, the king happily consents to the marriage of his daughter Ginevra and the handsome Ariodante. The atmosphere is one of jubilation: not only does love reign in hearts, but the sovereign also has the impression of getting a good deal. “I said to the singer who embodies the king: ‘You adore him, this Ariodante, he brings you thousands of hectares to secure your kingdom!'” laughs Robert Carsen. But, after a delicious first act, where a ball follows a country picnic, the drama invades the stage: in a nocturnal atmosphere that lends itself to all confusion, Ariodante thinks he has surprised a betrayal from his beloved…
Superstar of opera staging for two good decades, the Canadian Robert Carsen had already made an impression in 1999 with a sublime alcina at the Opéra Garnier, given again for the 2021-2022 season. Logical, therefore, that he tackles this other great adaptation of Ariosto by Handel, Ariodantecomposed the same year asalcinain 1735. Nourished by mischievous references to the British royal family and the Scottish setting of the action, this production of constant visual splendor dazzles just as much with the beauty of the voices (the young Canadian mezzo Emily d’Angelo and the soprano Ukrainian Olga Kulchynska) only by the acuity of her reading of the work.
Point : You are a recognized specialist in Handel’s operas. Where does your love for this composer come from?
Robert Carsen : I discovered Handel when I was a very young director, when I was asked to direct Sémélé at the Royal Academy of Music. It is an oratorio written by a great English playwright, William Congreve, and quite equivalent to an opera in scope and complexity. I was immediately sensitive to these characteristic “da capo” airs of Handel with their repetitive construction. They allow a striking dive into the psychology of the characters. It is established as an emotional contact between the spectators and the character, a mysterious alchemy. We arrive at moments of incredible suspension… We feel attention, affection for the one who sings, and then we are suspended in the orchestra, in the breathing of the singers. I love this idea: we hold our breath so much we are taken by what is happening, while all the work of the singer is precisely around breathing. This work on time with Handel touches me enormously. Time stops and death moves away. The ephemeral of life appears to us with a particular vivacity.
How to compare alcina et Ariodante ?
These are two masterpieces that saw the light of day four months apart: Ariodante in January, alcina in April of the year 1735. They are radically different. Ariodante is perhaps the work of Handel where the story is most determining. Very often in his operas, there are several sub-plots woven together and going in a fish tail. Here it’s the opposite: it’s all to do with Polinesso’s plot to gain power, demolish Ginevra’s reputation, and drive Ariodante out of court. The action is in touch with the most credible political reality: the characters belong to a royal family, everything happens behind the scenes of power. Alcina is a magician, she transforms men into rocks, trees, wild beasts. The action is metaphorical, the reflection is around passion, sexual desire. She accumulates men, and she discovers that she has a heart, she becomes a real woman when she falls in love. It is a poetic, abstract action. Ariodante, on the contrary, it is a story like a series. At the end of Act I, Polinesso asks Dalinda to disguise herself, in Act II we see her in disguise… The trick is also found in Shakespeare, a hundred years earlier, in A lot of noise for nothing.
You speak of series: your Ariodante is riddled with allusions to recent heartbreaks in the Windsor family. Like a new episode of The Crown !
Handel lived for several decades in the United Kingdom, and it was the only opera house he located there! I imagined the action in Balmoral Castle. The libretto focuses on the two brothers, which made me think of William and Harry… In my staging, in the end, the castle becomes a museum, these characters are nothing more than wax statues . It reflects my feeling that the monarchy cannot really endure without the queen who understood so beautifully that she had to give up her individuality for her office. I also knew Princess Margaret well, she too understood her own responsibility in this regard, even if she was unhappy about it. The other element related to the royal family that I use is the role of the press. Initially, the king seeks to use the press in his favor to strengthen his power, but then it turns against him. Ginevra becomes more and more isolated, she is a victim of everyone… When you are a member of this family, personal happiness cannot be the goal. But, from Diana, we saw that it became less and less acceptable. I show the coat of arms of Charles III in the decor too! My job is to stay with the work as it is written and find the maximum impact so that it resonates with us today.
Ariodante features a mythical tune, ” Treacherous joke »…
It really is a mini-drama, a drama within a drama, as are all those great da capo tunes. We can’t leave the singer without doing anything, it lasts up to twelve minutes according to the conductor… For the director, it’s a challenge: we have to find a solution that works dramatically, above all not to be anecdotal. Handel opens a window on the human soul, the writing is hypnotic, we listen without knowing where it will end.
How did you approach the ballets?
In the first act, it is a party which is supposed to be danced by nymphs and shepherdesses… At Balmoral, Queen Elizabeth II gave the Ghillies Ball every year, a ball in honor of the ghillies, that is, employees of the royal family. I took up this idea. In the second act, Handel gives the dance names in French: “Entrance of pleasant dreams”, “Entrance of disastrous dreams”. What would be a pleasant dream for Ginevra, who believes her lover dead and has just been violently repudiated by her father? She therefore imagines Ariodante. And, for the “disastrous dreams”, it is on the contrary his attacker, Polinesso. Besides, her nightmare becomes reality: Polinesso poses as her champion and she can’t do anything against it. This also refers to the position of powerlessness of women at that time.
“Ariodante”, directed by Robert Carsen and directed by Harry Bicket, with Emily d’Angelo, Olga Kulchynska, Tamara Banjesevic, Matthew Brook. Orchestra: The English Concert. Until May 20. www.operadeparis.com
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