"My children, my friends, I love you and love you and I leave you. And s' One thing that will never disappear, it is the warmth of your love. " Respect to this grand dame of French cinema and his words of love. Respect and silence.
Wonderful and terrible life as the poet novelist Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), descendant of an African and becoming the first writer to have given its pedigree literary Russian language, such as revered in Russia. Youth tumultuous political dissident, exile and he knows the shackles recovery imposed official positions, including censorship, the opposite of libertarian aspirations. For the sake of his frivolous wife, he died in a duel as Lenski his hero in his novel in verse Eugene Onegin , started at age 22 and completed some eight years later. The classic simplicity of the language of this romantic exalted merit will inspire many composers, Glinka (Ruslan and Ludmila ) Dargomisky ( The Russalka, The Stone Guest ), Mussorgsky (Boris Godunov ), Tchaikovsky (Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, Mazeppa ), Rimsky-Korsakov (Mozart and Salieri , The Golden Cockerel ), Rachmaninoff (The Miserly Knight ).
The work
The tormented Tchaikovsky, born prematurely in 1840 and died in 1893 without one knows what the equally celebrated in his country that Pushkin (he will be entitled to state funerals) created in 1878 his musical version the novel in verse. His will any modern truth leads him to refuse, for these lead roles of young lovers, singers, veterans and prefers the freshness and spontaneity of young soloists of the Moscow Conservatory.
More opera with a node, adventures and dramatic denouement, it is, as the composer of "Fair" lyric scenes "in three acts and seven scenes, moments in the life of the hero Eugene Onegin, a young dandy stilted, clothes and arrogant, playing dandies jaded and cynical in the English style of Richardson's Lovelace and Byron, in vogue in 1820. Immediately appealing the romantic Tatiana, a young provincial who engages him in a letter, a prisoner of his role, he rejects her, to fall madly in love when he found later married Princess celebrated in the capital, and will be rejected in turn. Meanwhile, he has killed his best friend in a duel, the poet Lenski, after a provocative banter with Olga, the bride of the latter. In short, they are almost, except the duel, almost like an accident that seems to have another impact on history that a long journey to Eugene, domestic scenes and mundane, with two balls antithetical (province capital) and two scenes equally between opposing Tatiana and Eugene, and two symmetrically opposite refusal rights, then women, responding to the love of another.
In this way, not tragedy, but tragedy of a time lag, they say, but we do not notice, two mismatched couples like those in Cosi fan tutte Mozart: the delicate poet Lensky, tenor, would be better suited to Tatiana, soprano like a dreamy and sentimental Fiordiligi's sister Olga, mezzo frivolous as Dorabella, better avenue libertine with baritone Eugene.
Achieving
It looks like this opera, by his feelings and situations, it is "verismo" if realism was often an exacerbation of feelings extreme, whereas here everything is in a respondent who, despite the passionate impulses, remains a great shame that even the transgression of Tatiana's love letter is just excitement that limit broken. The staging subtle Claire Servais glue to this text. It is therefore surprising the symbolic setting ( Jean-Pierre Capeyron, who was also behind the costumes), for the first part, which amounts to a more realistic space for the palace of the last act, expressive of lights out ( day, night, dawn and brutal blood) of Olivier Wery .
Bardé of these sheaves of wheat from the recent harvest, this circle of wooden ramp, playing with the bench planks of the same material and the floor of the ground, yard and garden bounded on large panels of wood too, with light gaps, Is it a concrete image and abstract at once the great Russian forest tamed and polished as the feelings, the carpentry and thoroughness of politeness? Books on the forefront, spreading the romantic love playing Tatiana, then less letters, are they not also be human - or destruction of the wood-paper? We do not need to say, but we must recognize the beauty of this strange circle ostensible wood kind of scene in the scene, altar or pedestal for the coming theatrical Eugene, degree elevation of intimate revelation for Tatiana, it allows a very tiering plastic characters groups, and pictorial effect very successful for the peasant dance with Olga the laughing seems the center surrounded by serfs. With the curtain falling drapery hangers, making for Tatiana, bed sheet protector for the girl frightened by itself, sailing wedding of her dreams or foggy, snowy shroud to Lenski, the effect is Poetic and effective. Claire Servais poetizes pretty long scene of the love letter Tatiana: a winter tree, dead, sharp edges in pencil, with leaves just for sheets, descends from the flies of reverie, and others scattered like so many drafts dead leaves already love hopes to flourish and take root, image of the home (?), will be read by the choir and accomplice heart of young girls in flower. Just a lot of detail which means this staging by simple and complex networks of delicate sense: when the cold and flippant Eugene, with a plea in her love makes the letter, the girl slipped between the ulcerated leaves of a book: flesh with dazzling revelation in the person of a practical man, the romance dreamed of the letter returns to the novel probably trigger . In the scene where it is opposite the old seducer became enamored of her that gives her a letter, she tore as a chapter of love never ended: circularity reverse the situation-which would have justified even the presence of circle now away ...
The costumes, in shades of general monochrome beige raw silk with touches of straw, located at the time of the creation of the work are of a dark beauty in the mundane scenes. But it surprised the dress and long veil Tatiana under a huge cape with a red passion stressed that smile when Eugene immediately recognizes in this bizarre and opaque attire.
interpretation
In the high vocal and musical signs the choice of distributions Raymond Duffaut is often staged to make a difference in the repertoire presented in Avignon. Eugene Onegin certainly does not lack great performers today, but it is rare to find, from first to last such a role consistency in quality. Thus, one finds pleasure with the dark voice of Jean-Marie Delpas , meticulous Minister of deadly duel, and the clear voice of Christophe Mortagne , minister of small pleasures and good manners in the role of French Monsieur Triquet.
At Madame Larina, very Slavic, lazily lying on the bench, Doris Lamprecht width lends his voice and his elegance and aristocratic languor relegated to the province, while the voice is darker and in any roundness of Isabelle Vernet gives Filipievna, heat protective and maternal, reassuring, the nurse, "Nannie" confidante of Tatiana. The carefree Olga is encamped by the grace of laughing Marie Lenormand , mezzo to the serious deep and round, who knows how to lighten his beautiful and flexible voice. These three female performers with serious tessituras close but different tones to make a sumptuous carpets clarifying soprano Tatiana entry in the duo which became a quartet, melancholy love song two girls with bittersweet counterpoint of two women aged three or four seasons in the lives of women, this youthful hopes and dreams and reality frustrated seniors. In this scene of great delicacy, there will be late (lateral spatial problem?) A disproportionate volume between the young couple and that of the old balance restored when Olga and Tatiana go behind the two mothers.
difficult role as the Prince Gremin, husband of Tatiana final: it has a stage and a tune, but sublime, to win: Nicolas Courjal , begins in this role but there between so that it is hard to imagine someone else. Fortunately it did not turn into big bluestem, and his love song to Tatiana, he murmurs modestly in confidence, with tender nuances difficult to great bass, often afflicted with a wide vibrato; with a rare elegance of phrasing, he caresses the words and notes from the G-flat major to E flat treble with the same ease and equality of this sumptuous tone.
Lenski, role poetic musical processing and voice of this poet, receive sensitivity Florian Laconi and his beautiful voice again that it is free, equal in volume, easy and flexible, his tone is light, bright treble its nuances and always expressive, would be nothing without this natural drama that upsets us to tears, involved in taking this role like a glove, elegiac and virile in his manner: "Kouda, kuud ...." In Eugene, Armando Noguera is, the vocal qualities and color, both equal and opposite of laconic tone dark baritone to the beautiful color throughout its range, it goes from low G to the ground acute distress tearing easily. Silhouette, light complexion and black beard, his appearance somewhat hieratic, make a hero sulfur almost Mephistophelean, perhaps more romantic.
Grave bodied without being heavy, sharp light that denser or lighter according to the text, Nataliya Kovalova , Tatiana embodies an exception. She reflects the voice misty romantic reveries, fever, insomnia sensual heat of the night following the discovery of love. In his letter, with music still means he must admire this passage, this breaking of the ethereal chrysalis into a young girl whose sense talk, confess, ask, require, expect and hope the man. In one night, fleshy and fruity timbre, his voice passionately and intelligently conduct, manifest vividly as the young girl with desire, found in she's a woman.
The work is delicate and spoil the pathos or the opposite extreme, the sentimentality. The head Rani Calderon avoids these pitfalls by conduct that is both firm and soft, but not saccharine, which showcases all that much detail: diaphanous strings which nappent the delicate colors of desks, almost Mozart , oboes, flutes, clarinets and the golden horn buttons for air Tatiana, the trumpet as a revelation. A great musical moment.
We also salute the dances always welcome to Eric Belaud and, in this work if the individual characters, but if the beautiful choral conducting choirs ( Aurore Marchand ). Which allows one to enter an audience to applaud enthusiastically unanimous success.
Photos: Cédric Delestrade / ACM-Studio / Avignon
1. From left to right, Vernet, Laconi, Noguera, Lamprecht, Lenormand, Kovalova;
