That the dazzledAtys mythical ridden by William Christie and Jean-Marie Villégier, in 1987 (resumed in 2011 with enormous success), rejoice. The Grand Théâtre de Genève has concocted a new version that they will remember, giving Louis XIV’s favorite opera, created in 1676 by Lully in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a new life, like that of the Lully’s hero, who died of love for the beautiful Sangaride, then metamorphosed into an immortal pine by the goddess Cybèle, who will worship him forever.
It is thanks to the joint audacity of the boss of the Geneva opera house, Aviel Cahn, and Laurent Brunner, “superintendent” of shows at the Palace of Versailles, where the masterpiece will be performed at the Royal Opera from 19 to March 23, that we owe this magnificent metamorphosis.
For more than three hours, dance and music will love each other in a breathtaking number of seduction
It is difficult to conceive of a more successful meeting than that of the choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, called upon to produce his first opera production, with the visual artists Prune Nourry and Jeanne Vicérial, to whom the sets and costumes were respectively entrusted (this is also a first confrontation with the world of opera), as well as the conductor Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, a brilliant adventurer ready for all conquests, as long as they serve the music.
For more than three hours, dance and music will love each other in a breathtaking number of seduction. Not in the dialectical and discursive manner of So do all of them, by Mozart, directed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker at the Paris Opera, in 2017. But in a sort of choreographic osmosis which sees the artists of the Geneva ballet corps penetrating the mimetic space of singing, while vocality is enriched by the fluid and sensual gestures directed by Angelin Preljocaj (a performance by the lyrical artists).
Plant metempsychosis
Prune Nourry’s sets are striking: a high ancient wall, little by little cracked with a fatal black root tree, while a first dream invaded Atys’ mind – Cybèle’s declaration of love illustrated dancers abseiling out of rock crevices. Then the gradual destructuring of the temple of the goddess as the drama unfolds: the hero has betrayed his rival and friend, the Phrygian king Celenus, promised to Sangaride. He will soon kill the one he loves, during a fit of dementia provoked by the jealous Cybèle, before committing suicide.
The Cappella Mediterranea displays a magnetic sensuality, giving this French music, sometimes played corset, the roundness of a voluptuously caressed flesh
You have 53.6% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.