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1On stage an uneven cast found its peak in Hasmik Torosyan (Leïla), a bel canto soprano whose silvery timbre and flawless agility are well suited to a character that appear to be like Norma, the priestess who breaks her chastity vows, were it not for the much less tragic mood. There was a rather colourless performance from French tenor Kévin Amiel who for Nadir's aria “Je crois entendre encore” – brought to fame by voices like those of Enrico Caruso, Alain Vanzo, Beniamino Gigli, Alfredo Kraus or Nicolai Gedda – delivered a modest and reduced version, although using the mezza voce requested by the composer. Pierre Doyen, replacing Fabio Capitanucci as Zurga at the last minute, proved to be better. The French baritone has a bright timbre and he elegantly defined the nobility of spirit of the man who saves his friend from death and lets him run away with the woman he has always loved. With these two interpreters one heard impeccable French diction and not the rather loose one of the chorus. The quartet of performers was completed by Ugo Guagliardo's coarse Nourabad. Julien Lubeck and Cécile Roussat's staging swayed between tackiness and naivety. After rejecting a directorial idea that could give greater depth and humanity to the characters, the two directors chose a decorativeness that seems taken from those old Christmas cards with sequins glued to the edges of the figures. Sinuous frames make up a diorama flooded with blue, red and gold light where two-dimensional characters act. The idea of using mime to recreate the pantomimes that were fashionable at Bizet's time clashes with modern taste and when Leïla's replica swirls around the two singers during one of the most beautiful operatic duets, you want to close your eyes. Birds, adequately glittered, are moved by mimes during Leïla's aria in Act 1 and the ubiquitous acrobatic dancers were rather annoying. A fair amount of applause welcomed the end of the show.
