{"id":19483,"date":"2014-06-24T16:36:02","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T20:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=19483"},"modified":"2014-06-24T19:25:20","modified_gmt":"2014-06-24T23:25:20","slug":"opera-review-against-the-grain-theatre-presents-pelleas-et-melisande","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2014\/06\/24\/opera-review-against-the-grain-theatre-presents-pelleas-et-melisande\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera review: Against the Grain Theatre presents Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Screen<\/a>
\u00c9TIENNE DUPUIS, BARITONE. PHOTO: DARRYL BLOCK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 21st was one of those perfect straw-hat days. Summer solstice \u2013 a breezy bright late afternoon which begs a dinner out on a terrace somewhere cozy, with plenty of Sangria. Afterwards was a blind date with Against the Grain\u2019s<\/a> al fresco production of Debussy\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/em>. Qui sonne bien.<\/p>\n

I strolled through the entrance and funnelled into the inner courtyard of the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s office and rehearsal space. Filled with mature trees, a large gazebo, iron gates and arched-brick lined walls, the space was idyllic.<\/p>\n

Good gracious, I thought, where has this place been hiding all my life? It was not only a perfect spot to simply sit and soak in, but for an opera setting, its potential was obvious. This could be very interesting, I thought. And it was.<\/p>\n

As the sun began to break into that special time between night and day, the opera began to unfold. The music was entirely performed on an upright piano by Julien LeBlanc<\/a> and a rather frantic looking page turner who, after a 2 \u00bd-hour long production, deserved some kind of award in itself.<\/p>\n

Julien LeBlanc\u2019s playing was nuanced and inspired. My only whinge was that it was an upright \u2013 an apartment-sized piano whose tone was thin and brittle. Why not a grand piano? It would have made an enormous difference in sound quality, and I think Julien LeBlanc deserved an instrument to match his talent.<\/p>\n

\"MIRIAM<\/a>
MIRIAM KHALIL, SOPRANO. PHOTO: DARRYL BLOCK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But back to the love fest, shall we? AtG\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/em> was slight and pensive, with hints of an age where ideas of love and loss mixed with the aching surroundings of forlorn impressionist beauty. The characters wafted in and out of the piazza like ghosts, and the effect was nothing short of magical.<\/p>\n

This is a slow-moving opera which Debussy struggled to get right for a long time. Found in a story by Maurice Maeterlinck, it\u2019s characters are set against the mercy of life and destiny. The text was fought over by Gabriel Faur\u00e9, Jean Sibelius and Arnold Schoenberg, who all swooped in to set it to music. But Debussy saw an opera in it, stating \u201cThe drama of Pell\u00e9as which, despite its dream-like atmosphere, contains far more humanity than those so-called \u2018real-life documents\u2019, seemed to suit my intentions admirably. In it there is an evocative language whose sensitivity could be extended into music and into the orchestral backcloth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plot circles around a love triangle between Prince Golaud, M\u00e9lisande, and Pell\u00e9as.<\/p>\n

It begins with Prince Golaud, who finds a mysterious young woman, M\u00e9lisande, alone and lost in a forest. He marries her, and takes her back to his grandfather\u2019s castle. M\u00e9lisande meets Golaud\u2019s younger half-brother Pell\u00e9as, and the two start to fall in love, arousing Golaud\u2019s jealousy. Golaud forces his son Yniold, to spy on the couple. Pell\u00e9as leaves the castle but arranges to rendezvous with M\u00e9lisande and the two confess their love for each other. An eavesdropping Golaud rushes out and sinks a sword into Pell\u00e9as. A devastated M\u00e9lisande gives birth to a daughter and dies, leaving Golaud alone to obsess about the devastating reality of loving someone who cannot love him back.<\/p>\n

\"ANDREA<\/a>
ANDREA NU\u00d1EZ, SOPRANO, AND GREGORY DAHL, BARITONE. PHOTO- DARRYL BLOCK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I really have to hand it to Artistic Director Joel Ivany<\/a>, who has taken to the heights of opera with a humble budget. Creativity will beat spectacle every time, and he knows it.<\/p>\n

The casting was also a winning combination. Alain Coulombe<\/a> was perfect in his role as the grandfather Arkel, and Megan Latham<\/a> carried the role of the grandmother Genevi\u00e8ve, with impressive charisma.<\/p>\n

The love triangle played between \u00c9tienne Dupuis<\/a>, Gregory Dahl<\/a>, and Miriam Khalil<\/a> was also a slam dunk. In particular Dupuis, who absolutely lived in the role of Pell\u00e9as, and Miriam Khalil, who seemed as if she had stepped right out of Monet\u2019s Garden at Sainte-Adresse as M\u00e9lisande incarnate. Her signature warm lyrical voice countered the lower male voices to great effect. Gregory Dahl was also astonishing in his portrayal of the antagonist Prince Golaud, a complex role requiring a deep understanding of the philological trauma of someone who has lost their way.<\/p>\n

Andrea N\u00fa\u00f1ez\u2019s<\/a> performance of Golaud\u2019s son Yniold was also very strong. Her interaction with her father was engaging and provided a narrative depth to the tragedy about to unfold before them.<\/p>\n

AtG\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande was perhaps the highlight of the opera season for me, which compared to a very strong season at the COC and elsewhere, says something very important.<\/p>\n

Opera is not about spectacle, but the strange alchemy between words and music consumed in the mythical ritual of theatre performance. The singers bring it all to life and this is where the AtG shine brightest. Casting casting casting.<\/p>\n

Evidenced by the number of squirrels and birds in attendance, they also approved.<\/p>\n

Well-done everyone.<\/p>\n

+++<\/p>\n

Against the Grain Theatre\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande closes Wednesday, June 25th, 2014. Tickets and details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michael Vincent<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 21st was one of those perfect straw-hat days. Summer solstice \u2013 a breezy bright late afternoon which begs a dinner out on a terrace somewhere cozy, with plenty of Sangria. Afterwards was a blind date with Against the Grain\u2019s al fresco production of Debussy\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande. Qui sonne bien. I strolled through the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[117,43,52],"tags":[186,4741,4746,983,4743,4747,1736,4742,4745,2592],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/06\/AtG1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-54f","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19483"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19502,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19483\/revisions\/19502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19483"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=19483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}