Charles Gounod - Philémon et Baucis
L'Opéra de Tours, 2018
Benjamin Pionnier, Julien Ostini, Norma Nahoun, Sébastien Droy, Alexandre Duhamel, Eric Martin-Bonnet, Marion Grange
Culturebox - February 2018
Composer
centenaries are always a good opportunity to revisit some rare and
neglected works, and while Charles Gounod is well-represented by Faust
if not much else, the 200th anniversary of his birth has at least
unearthed (and seen broadcast) two practically unheard works in La nonne sanglante and Philémon et Baucis. If neither of the works proved to be
lost masterpieces or give any indication that Gounod might be an
underrated composer, they are certainly merit another look and prove to
be charming and entertaining stage works.
First performed
in 1860 (a year after Faust), Philémon et Baucis was revised in 1876
from its three-act form into a two-act opera. While neither version has
been given much attention in the intervening years, the three-act
Philémon et Baucis - in its production here in Tours - certainly hasn't
been performed since 1860. An adaptation of Jean de la Fontaine's
adaptation of the mythological take told in the Roman poet Ovid's
Metamorphoses, with a libretto by Jules Barbier et Michel Carré,
Philémon et Baucis was intended to capitalise on the success of
Offenbach's racy carry-on through classical mythology in his 1858
opéra-comique Orphée aux enfers ("Orpheus in the Underworld"). Gounod's
take on the subject however has little in common with Offenbach.
Where
Offenbach's approach was satirical and irreverent, Gounod adopts a more
gentle tone that relies for humour more in the situational settings of
mythological figures intervening in the lives of humans and
employing common language, and instead exploits the setting and the
characters for different moods and colours in concise little numbers.
The opening scene in the original 1860 version, for example, opens with a
pastoral scene, showing the poor couple, Philémon and Baucis in their
humble little hut, singing of their love for each other, content in
their old age. To relive their youth would be lovely, but looking at
the wild and drunken antics of the youth of today, Philémon prays to
Jupiter to deliver them from such behaviour.
The arrival
of Jupiter with the god Vulcan in tow during a storm brings other
colours out of the work, not least of which is the humour to be found in
the lascivious behaviour of Jupiter already made great fun of in Orphée
aux enfers. Gounod takes this awareness for granted then and doesn't
try to compete in the sauciness stakes with Offenbach's work - although
there is plenty of opportunity - but takes a more measured and dynamic
approach that is rather (pre-)biblical in nature. Jupiter and Vulcan,
who also has a little (pre-)Rheingold-like fiery forging while bemoaning
of the cruelty of Venus towards him, are surprised at the kindness the
old people show the two strangers and the fact that they are still very
much in love, as this is not their experience of love.
Having
gifted them with a self-replenishing jar of wine and the promise of a
return to youth, Jupiter then takes vengeance on the other disrespectful
Bacchantes who mock the gods and carry on their outrageous orgies,
bringing a flood to the land and wiping them all out, and Gounod takes
advantage of this opportunity to have a ballet Intermezzo (that is also
taken full advantage of in the excellent Tours production). He doesn't
wipe out everyone of course, keeping a few choice souls for his amorous
purposes, but when he sees Baucis returned to her youthful beauty, he
inevitably makes a play for her that doesn't make Philémon a bit happy.
There's
plenty of material there for Gounod to play with and he's not so much
interested in the comic potential. The arias and numbers are all rather
pleasantly melodic and charming, and conducted as such by Benjamin Pionnier, but the work lacks any real edge, even in the spoken dialogue
passages. A stage director could be tempted to play it up a little more
in the style of Offenbach, but that would seem to be going against the
true intentions of the work, and Julien Ostini focuses instead on
matching the variety of tones provided by Gounod with an appropriate
setting for each situation. That means keeping everything relative
simple and uncluttered, but with some visual flair in Bruno de
Lavenère's sets and some sympathetic lighting by Simon Trottet.
The
necessary charm is there also in the singing performances of Norma Nahoun's sweet lyrical Baucis working wonderfully alongside Sébastien Droy's earnest Philémon. Alexandre Duhamel's self-confident but
ultimately repentant skirt-chasing deity Jupiter is likewise well
balanced with Eric Martin-Bonnet's bitter and lovelorn Vulcan, and
Marion Grange whips up the Bacchantes into a frenzy, or perhaps more of a
mild tizzy. Such is the nature of Gounod's Philémon et Baucis and such
is the light charm of the account given it in the Tours production that
this is a sympathetic and appropriate way to rediscover the true value
of another neglected work by Charles Gounod, even if it's not such a
masterpiece.
Links: L'Opéra de Tours, Culturebox
Jacques Offenbach - La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein
Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liège - 2013
Cyril Englebert, Stefano Mazzonis Di Pralafera, Patricia Fernandez, Sébastien Droy, Lionel Lhote, Sophie Junker, Jean-Philippe Corre, Giovanni Iovino, Patrick Delcour, Roger Joakim
Culturebox Live Internet Streaming - 27 December 2013
With their witty entertaining comic plots and an abundance of catchy tunes, it's easy to underestimate the cleverness of Jacques Offenbach's popular operettas. It's also easy to overlook the historical relevance of the works and the daring of the satire contained in them. A raucous opéra bouffe written for the Paris Exhibition of 1867 just three years before the Franco-Prussian war, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein for example not only played to the crowned heads of Europe - Napoleon III, Alexander II, the Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria and Otto von Bismark of Prussia among them - but Offenbach's comic operetta even made fun of them in this outrageous military satire.
Historical context aside, Offenbach's works are still capable today of striking home with contemporary relevance. There's no doubt much that could be made here of a war being manufactured by an influential Baron just so that a Duchess can amuse herself organising her own military regiment, causing havoc in the ranks in the process by promoting her favourite above those with merited rank. This however is not a route followed by the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, the company's Artistic Director Stefano Mazzonis Di Pralafera preferring to show that La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is above all else a fine example of the kind of comic entertainment that Offenbach excelled in producing. Moving far away not only from the historical context of the work but also significantly rewriting characters and situations, the war in this version of La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is a kind of Masterchef competition.
Here, in the Opéra Royal de Wallonie production then, Fritz is a humble dishwasher in the kitchen of a restaurant owned managed by Grand Duchess of Gérolstein. The Duchess does indeed organise her kitchen like a military operation and taking something of a fancy to the handsome dishwasher, promotes him to super-chef over the head of Chief Chef Boum. Boum is outraged and goes into competition working for a rival restaurant, but Prince Paul - recast here as the restaurant sommelier - is also extremely put out, since he's been trying to get the Duchess to marry him for ages. Fritz is a bit dumb however and doesn't realise the nature of the Duchess' intentions, so when he prepares to marry his beloved Wanda, the Duchess joins the aggrieved conspirators who are planning to launch a counter-attack against the new superchef who has cunningly won the 'Guerre des Chefs' competition through the use of strong alcohol.
There's evidently then quite a bit of rewriting here of Henry Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy's libretto for Offenbach's comedy, and it extends beyond the spoken dialogue sections through to the songs as well. It certainly stretches the intentions of the original material and dilutes the satire of the kind of situations and personal resentments that can lead to war and have much more serious consequences. Arguably however, particularly since there's not much to be gained nowadays from satirising the Franco-Prussian war, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein must work primarily as a comedy. Despite the cleverness of a concept that is ripe for satire - presumably TV cookery shows and competitions are as popular in Belgium as they are in the UK - and some witty modern touches that get a laugh (recasting Baron Grog as Monsieur Redbul, for example), it doesn't quite come across as all that funny however without the bite of the military satire.
As it stands however, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie production of La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is nonetheless deliciously light and entertaining. The production design is stylish in the way that is typical of how Stefano Mazzonis Di Pralafera treats such opéra comique material. Considerable attention is paid to developing distinct characters and personalities, good use is made of the space of the stage, with plenty of comic interplay, background gags and dancers providing constant movement and visual entertainment. With all the jaunty Offenbach melodies, boosted here with military-like marches, it's all entirely in keeping with the nature of the work and there's never a dull moment. There's even a 'Can-Can' thrown in for good measure at the end here.
There's also a special kind of singing required for opéra comique that requires deft performers capable of good comic interplay and timing, as well as a certain fleetness and brightness for the delivery of the often rapid-fire dialogue and fast rhythms. Sébastien Droy handles this all marvellously as the dumb but likeable Fritz, his exchanges with Boum, the Duchess and Wanda are all spot on. Patricia Fernandez is a little bit breathless and unsteady in the face of such challenges and struggles through the last act, but she has loads of personality as the Grande-Duchesse and carries the role well. The supporting roles are hard to fault with good turns from Giovanni Iovino as the speech-impaired Paul, Lionel Lhote as the self-important Boum and from Sophie Junker as a bright and vivacious Wanda.
The Opéra Royal de Wallonie production of La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein was streamed live on 27th December 2013 and is still available for viewing on the Culturebox website for France Television. There are no region restrictions but the subtitles are in French only. They do however they extend to the revised spoken dialogue as well as the "tunes".
