Organization

Singer

Soprano

Kristina Mkhitaryan

Leila

Tenor

Frédéric Antoun

Nadir

Baritone

Audun Iversen

Zurga

Bass

Michael Mofidian

Nourabad

Stage director

Lotte de Beer

Conductor

David Reiland

Lighting designer

Alex Brok

Costume designer

Jorine van Beek

Set designer

Marousha Levy

Video designer

Finn Ross

Chorus master

Alan Woodbridge

Others

Choeur du Grand Théâtre de Genève

Orchestra

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Grand Théâtre de Genève

francès

Les Pêcheurs de perles -  (The Pearl Fishers)

Geneva

Switzerland

Grand-Théâtre

Public

The Pearl Fishers

anglès

Approved

Rencontre avec la soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan (Leïla ), Frédéric Antoun (Nadir) et Audun Iversen (Zurga) qui nous présentent Les Pêcheurs de perles de Georges Bizet.

Du 10 au décembre au Grand Théâtre de Genève
https://www.gtg.ch/saison-21-22/les-p...

Les Pêcheurs de perles présente un triangle amoureux assez typique de l’opéra : le ténor Nadir aime la soprano Leïla et le baryton Zurga est son rival (et ami). Mais la musique de Bizet donne à ces personnages une grande pertinence émotionnelle. La metteure en scène Lotte de Beer replonge dans cette œuvre à la recherche de ses miroitements et opalescences. Elle les trouve dans l’engouement de notre époque pour les émissions de téléréalité sur une île exotique.

Les Pêcheurs de perles - Q&A

During the New Imperialism period in the second half of the 19th century, far-off locations and ostensibly foreign musical elements were all the rage on the opera stage. In 1863, the 25-year old Georges Bizet was commissioned by the director of the Theatre-Lyrique in Paris to compose a work of this kind: his first major opera project after his Prix de Rome student bursary. He did not, however, get to choose his subject or libretto. The veteran librettists Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré had previously written Les pêcheurs de Catane for Aimé Maillart in 1860. They kept its three-way love story as a plot for young Bizet, but moved it from unexotic Sicily, first to Mexico, and then to even more exotic Ceylon, packing it with pagan rituals and attractive “natives” – all European singers in “brownface” – expressing the typical florid emotions of a Romantic European melodrama. On the beach, the pearl fishers await the consecrated virgin, who is to calm the sea with her prayers so that the fishers can go about their work in safety. Zurga, their new leader, and his friend, the hunter Nadir, once fell in love with the same girl, but swore not to pursue her for the sake of their friendship. But Nadir has secretly broken the oath and approached her. When the veiled virgin appears, Nadir immediately recognizes her as Leila, the girl he loves. Presenting works nowadays that might have seemed picturesque in the era of colonial empires but are in more than one way unacceptable to ours is no easy task. Bizet’s music does however give The Pearl Fishers’ one-dimensional characters considerable emotional relevance, and so the work is certainly worth another dive in search of its iridescent treasures. At least that is the opinion of the Dutch director Lotte de Beer who directed this production for the Theater an der Wien in Vienna in 2014. She plays with deconstruction to give new dramatic impulse to the opera’s farfetched coincidences and kitschy exoticism. Just as the exotic Ceylon of the 19th century becomes Sri Lanka in the 21st century, a paradise for tropical holidays and wellness breaks, de Beer – a rising star on the opera horizon – is look-ing for a contemporary and entertaining counterpart to the trend of situating stories in remote regions and cultures. She finds it in reality TV contests where European contestants are challenged to isolate on an exotic island without knowing what to expect. From Ibsen’s theatre she derives the concept of “vital lie”, to describe the implausible twists and turns in the story of Leila, Nadir and Zurga, as credible as the pre-programmed twists and turns of I’m a Celebrity… or Love Island. The young Belgian conductor David Reiland, a big fan of the music of the French Second Empire, will lead the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and a trio of soloists that will also feature Russian soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan (Les Indes galantes, GTG 19/20) along with Canadian tenor Frédéric Antoun, known for his skill in the most demanding roles of the French repertoire, and booming Norwegian baritone Audun Iversen.

English

The Pearl Fishers by Bizet, De (2021/2021), Dirigit per Lotte de Beer,, Director musical David Reiland, Grand-Théâtre, Geneva, Switzerland

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