STRASBOURG/FRANCE: The wonderful operahouse in Strassbourg, who is also playing in Colmar and Mulhouse, all close up to the boarder of Germany, is for the spring 2014 presenting a new production of The Flying Dutchmann with 7 performances from the 26th of January (26+28, and 1+3+8 Februar). Moving it to Mulhouse end of February (20+22).  Marko Letonja is conducting, staged by Nicolas Brieger, and as The Dutchmann will sing Sebastian Holecek 

The whole distribution list is as follows

DIRECTOR Marko Letonja

STAGE DIRECTOR Nicolas Brieger
SET DESIGNER Raimund Bauer
COSTUME DESIGNER Andrea Schmidt-Futterer
LIGHTING DESIGNER  Friedrich Rom
VIDÉO Philipp Haupt
CHOREOGRAPHY Otto Pichler

The dutchman Sebastian Holecek
Daland Kristinn Sigmundsson
Senta Ricarda Merbeth
Erik Thomas Blondelle
Mary Eve-Maud Hubeaux
Daland’s Steersman Gijs Van der Linden

Choruses of the Opéra national du Rhin
Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg

But before that Rigoletto in Mulhouse (8+10 January). Followed by a new production of Le Roi Arthus by Ernest Chausson from 14th March (14+16+18+21+23, and in Mulhouse 11+15 April).

Ernest Chausson: 

LE ROI ARTHUS

Lyrical drama in 3 acts , Libretto by the composer 

NEW PRODUCTION

Ernest Chausson attended the creation of Parsifal in Bayreuth in 1882. It proved to be a great shock for him. From then on, his own production was influenced by the discovery of the Wagnerian language, which he made his own by adapting it to match his sensitivity – and the sensitivity of the French public – through works where the orchestration is virtually impressionistic
.

Furthermore, this particular work did not come easily, since he took about ten years (1886-1895) to fine-tune the score of Le Roi Arthus, and his early death in a bike accident prevented him from ever seeing it performed on stage. Yet, let it be clear: despite a certain parallelism, Le Roi Arthus is anything but a pale copy of Tristan. For his first and last opera, Chausson is already speaking in the first person and opening the way for Debussy and Dukas, for example, who in their own way would also strive against the naturalist movement which prevailed at the time.

Distribution:

MUSICAL DIRECTOR Jacques Lacombe
STAGE DIRECTOR Keith Warner
SET AND COSTUME DIRECTOR David Fielding

Genièvre Elisabete Matos
Arthus Franck Ferrari
Lancelot Andrew Richards
Mordred Bernard Imbert
Lyonnel Christophe Mortagne
Allan Arnaud Richard
Merlin Nicolas Cavallier
The Worker Jérémy Duffau

Choruses of the Opéra national du Rhin
Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse

Amédée-Ernest Chausson; (20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish
.

Double Bill with the opera studio.

 

An interesing new prodution of a Double Bill made by the Opera Studio, will be one of the other interesting high lights of the spring two operas by French composer, Charles Gounod La Colombe and by Darius Milhaud Le Pauvre Matelot:

To be performed in Colmar 4+6 April, Mulhouse 6+10 May, Guesting in Paris – at Athénée Théâtre Louis Jouvet 11+13+14+15 June.Ending up in Strassbourg 1+3 July.

Charles Gounod: LA COLOMBE

Comic opera in 2 acts
Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré

Darius Milhaud: LE PAUVRE MATELOT

A lament in 3 acts
Words by Jean Cocteau

NEW PRODUCTIONS

Too poor to offer a good dinner to the young girl he loves, Horace has no other choice than to cook the dove he has nurtured with such care – a beautiful dove that the young girl would like Horace to give her..
. Gounod brings to the fore music full of joy and smiles, worthy of the minor farce which is about to be played out.
This misunderstanding is an echo of the plot of the Poor Sailor, a gem stemming from the collaboration between Milhaud and Cocteau. The work starts with the story of Ulysses and Penelope, but ends less happily for the sailor. He has been absent for so long, he is now believed to be dead. His wife alone refuses to accept this belief and constantly puts off any idea of remarrying. Yet when her sailor husband returns, she doesn’t recognise him and kills him to steal the riches he has picked up over his travels. The money will come in very handy when her husband returns, she thinks!

MUSICAL DIRECTOR Claude Schnitzler
STAGE DIRECTOR, SET AND LINGHTING DESIGNER Stéphane Vérité
COSTUME DESIGNER Hervé Poeydomange
DIGITAL IMAGING DESIGN Romain Sosso and Stéphane Vérité

LA COLOMBE
Sylvie Gaëlle Alix
Horace Jean-Christophe Born
Maître Jean Sévag Tachdjian
Mazet Lamia Beuque

LE PAUVRE MATELOT
The Sailor Sunggoo Lee
His Wife Kristina Bitenc
His Friend David Oller Martínez
His father-in-law Alexander Schuster

Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg
Orchestre Lamoureux (Paris)

But during all that we get another famouse French composer;

Jean-Philippe Rameau: PLATÉE

Ballet bouffon (comic opera) in 3 acts and a prologue
Libretto by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d’Orville

Before Rameau composed Platée (Plataea), humour had rarely been placed at the heart of lyrical scenes, which necessarily put the spotlight on noble, valorous heroes whose destinies were way above the common lot
. Here, the genius composer reverses all the codes, putting on stage a pretentious frog who thinks it has succeeded in touching the heart of the greatest of gods, Jupiter
. Rameau goes far beyond the confines of entertainment, and while our frog’s impudence is painfully punished in a cruel ending, this could well reflect the composer’s desire to highlight the violence imposed by the most powerful in our world upon the most destitute. A fable we would today term as “unhinged”, where Rameau puts his all into creating the most inventive, colourful, virtuoso music. And yet, despite the apparent delirium (after all, Folly herself is one of the characters!), an acerbic criticism of mid 18th-century society strikes through. 

MUSICAL DIRECTOR Christophe Rousset
STAGE DIRECTOR Mariame Clément
SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER Julia Hansen
LIGHTING DESIGNER Reinhard Traub
CHOREOGRAPHY Joshua Monten
DRAMATIST Clément Hervieu-Léger

PROLOGUE
Thalie Ana-Camelia Stefanescu
Thespis Cyril Auvity
Momus Thomas Dolié
Love Hanne Roos

Folly Ana-Camelia Stefanescu
Mercury Cyril Auvity
Citheron Thomas Dolié
Clarine Hanne Roos
Plataea Emiliano Gonzalez Toro
Jupiter Andrew Schröder
Juno Isabelle Druet
A Satyr Frédéric Caton

Choruses and Ballet of the Opéra national du Rhin
Orchestra Les Talens Lyriques

PRODUCTIONS OF THE OPÉRA STUDIO

This total opera program is giving many reasons to vist Opera National du Rhin this Spring.