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Music by César Franck , Libretto by Emile Deschamps and Emilien Pacini. On September 19th 2012, Liège, the economic and cultural centre of Wallonia, reopened its Opera house, anchoring one of Europe’s most important Operas in modernity. The season opens with Stradella, the uncompleted work of the youth of the composer César Franck, who was born and raised in Liège, the 1842 manuscript of which was found in the National Library of France in 1984. The world’s first production is therefore being performed at the Royal Opera House of Wallonia, orchestrated by Luc Van Hove and directed by the film maker Jaco Van Dormael (Le huitième jour, Toto le héros).
The Duke of Pesaro has ordered his lieutenant Spadoni to abduct the beautiful maiden Leonor in the middle of the Carnival in Venice. Having locked her away in his mansion, the Duke tries to win her love by employing the famous singer Stradella to woo her, unaware that Stradella and Leonor are actually an item. As well as being one mighty coincidence, one would think the Duke might have taken some time to investigate Leonor’s love-life, but as I say, such details seem to be of little concern to the young Franck, who instead focuses his attention on exploring the romantic tragedy aspects that this situation gives rise to. Franck’s symphonic scoring is certainly influenced by Wagner to some extent, but the composer clearly favours the more melodic approach of Gounod - Faust sounding like an influence in the ‘À demain‘ duet between Stradella and Leonor early in the first act before the abduction - and it bears a close relation with the composer’s near-contemporary Massenet in this regard. With an abundance of water on the stage that on occasion tended to get in the way of the performance, the production certainly favoured spectacle over musical or dramatic integrity.
Marc Laho (Stradella),Isabelle Kabatu (Leonore), Werner van Mechelen (Spadoni), Philippe Rouillon (The Duke),Xavier Rouillon (Pietro), Giovanni Iovino (Michael), Patrick Mignon (Beppo), Roger Joakim (An Officer),
Staging : Jaco Van Dormael,Musical Direction : Paolo Arrivabeni,Sets : Vincent Lemaire, Lighting : Nicolas Olivier, Costumes : Olivier Beriot
French
English
Production compagny : Oxymore
Coproduction compagny : Arte , The Royal Opera House of Wallonia, Jim &Jules, with the participation of RTBF
Running Time : 1 x 117’
Production Year : 2012
Distribution compagny : Telmondis distribution
Video Format : HD CAM, Digibeta 16/9