CASTOR ET POLLUX: OPERA GARNIER
By Alain Berland
Already responsible for such an uninspired staging of Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda at the Opéra Bastille in March 2024 that it should have alerted programmers, Sellars returns to the Opéra Garnier with a very poor scenic proposition. Imagine a set made up of furniture and costumes that look like they’ve come straight out of a garage sale, accompanied by video images that attempt to capture the pantheistic ecstasies of filmmaker Terrence Malick, but instead evoke the animated wallpaper of an old PC.
As for the choreography directed by Cal Hunt, inspired by Flex dance, it’s initially spectacular, with bodies contorting like snakes. But the lack of inventiveness soon turns the show into a marathon of contortions. This brings back nostalgic memories of the extraordinary dancers assembled by the formidable choreographer Bintou Dembélé for another Rameau opera, Les Indes galantes, where the diversity of the dances and the inventiveness of visual artist and filmmaker Clément Cogitore had amazed us.
While nothing can be criticized about the singers and the magnificent choir, all of whom are top-tier, the orchestral conducting, with its overly mannered choices, becomes tiresome and struggles to elevate an overall dull performance.
Opéra Garnier: Until February 23
CASTOR ET POLLUX –
Compositeur : Jean-Philippe RAMEAU –
Livret : Pierre-Joseph BERNARD –
Direction musicale : Teodor CURRENTZIS –
Mise en scene : Peter SELLARS –
Choregraphe principal : Cal HUNT –
Video : Alex MacINNIS –
Decors : Joelle AOUN –
Costumes : Camille ASSAF –
Lumiere : James F. INGALLS –
Dramaturgie : Antonio CUENCA RUIZ –
Choregraphie : Francoise GRES –
Chef des choeurs : Vitaly POLONSKY –
Avec :
Reinoud VAN MECHELEN (Castor) –
Marc MAUILLON (Pollux) –
Danse :
Christopher BEAUBRUN –
Jin LEE BAOBEI –
Andrew COLEMAN (dit Finesse) –
Xavier DAYS (dit X) –
Ablaye DIOP –
Ange EMMANUEL (dit Kendrickble) –
Kenza KABISSO –
Joshua MORALES (dit Sage) –
Tom MORNET BOUCHIBA (dit Tomorrow) –
Cordell PURNELL (dit Storm) –
Sarah QUERUT –
Edwin SACO (dit Jamsy) –
Oceane VALENCE –
Orchestre et choeurs : Utopia –
Le 16 01 2025 –
Au Palais Garnier –
Photo : Vincent PONTET –
CASTOR ET POLLUX –
Compositeur : Jean-Philippe RAMEAU –
Livret : Pierre-Joseph BERNARD –
Direction musicale : Teodor CURRENTZIS –
Mise en scene : Peter SELLARS –
Choregraphe principal : Cal HUNT –
Video : Alex MacINNIS –
Decors : Joelle AOUN –
Costumes : Camille ASSAF –
Lumiere : James F. INGALLS –
Dramaturgie : Antonio CUENCA RUIZ –
Choregraphie : Francoise GRES –
Chef des choeurs : Vitaly POLONSKY –
Avec :
Jeanine DE BIQUE (Theaire) –
Stephanie D OUSTRAC (Phebe) –
Reinoud VAN MECHELEN (Castor) –
Marc MAUILLON (Pollux) –
Danse :
Christopher BEAUBRUN –
Jin LEE BAOBEI –
Andrew COLEMAN (dit Finesse) –
Xavier DAYS (dit X) –
Ablaye DIOP –
Ange EMMANUEL (dit Kendrickble) –
Kenza KABISSO –
Joshua MORALES (dit Sage) –
Tom MORNET BOUCHIBA (dit Tomorrow) –
Cordell PURNELL (dit Storm) –
Sarah QUERUT –
Edwin SACO (dit Jamsy) –
Oceane VALENCE –
Orchestre et choeurs : Utopia –
Le 16 01 2025 –
Au Palais Garnier –
Photo : Vincent PONTET –
CASTOR ET POLLUX –
Compositeur : Jean-Philippe RAMEAU –
Livret : Pierre-Joseph BERNARD –
Direction musicale : Teodor CURRENTZIS –
Mise en scene : Peter SELLARS –
Choregraphe principal : Cal HUNT –
Video : Alex MacINNIS –
Decors : Joelle AOUN –
Costumes : Camille ASSAF –
Lumiere : James F. INGALLS –
Dramaturgie : Antonio CUENCA RUIZ –
Choregraphie : Francoise GRES –
Chef des choeurs : Vitaly POLONSKY –
Avec :
Jeanine DE BIQUE (Theaire) –
Stephanie D OUSTRAC (Phebe) –
Reinoud VAN MECHELEN (Castor) –
Marc MAUILLON (Pollux) –
Nicholas NEWTON (Jupiter – un athlete – Mars) –
Danse :
Christopher BEAUBRUN –
Jin LEE BAOBEI –
Andrew COLEMAN (dit Finesse) –
Xavier DAYS (dit X) –
Ablaye DIOP –
Ange EMMANUEL (dit Kendrickble) –
Kenza KABISSO –
Joshua MORALES (dit Sage) –
Tom MORNET BOUCHIBA (dit Tomorrow) –
Cordell PURNELL (dit Storm) –
Sarah QUERUT –
Edwin SACO (dit Jamsy) –
Oceane VALENCE –
Orchestre et choeurs : Utopia –
Le 16 01 2025 –
Au Palais Garnier –
Photo : Vincent PONTET –
CASTOR ET POLLUX –
Compositeur : Jean-Philippe RAMEAU –
Livret : Pierre-Joseph BERNARD –
Direction musicale : Teodor CURRENTZIS –
Mise en scene : Peter SELLARS –
Choregraphe principal : Cal HUNT –
Video : Alex MacINNIS –
Decors : Joelle AOUN –
Costumes : Camille ASSAF –
Lumiere : James F. INGALLS –
Dramaturgie : Antonio CUENCA RUIZ –
Choregraphie : Francoise GRES –
Chef des choeurs : Vitaly POLONSKY –
Avec :
Jeanine DE BIQUE (Theaire) –
Reinoud VAN MECHELEN (Castor) –
Danse :
Christopher BEAUBRUN –
Jin LEE BAOBEI –
Andrew COLEMAN (dit Finesse) –
Xavier DAYS (dit X) –
Ablaye DIOP –
Ange EMMANUEL (dit Kendrickble) –
Kenza KABISSO –
Joshua MORALES (dit Sage) –
Tom MORNET BOUCHIBA (dit Tomorrow) –
Cordell PURNELL (dit Storm) –
Sarah QUERUT –
Edwin SACO (dit Jamsy) –
Oceane VALENCE –
Orchestre et choeurs : Utopia –
Le 16 01 2025 –
Au Palais Garnier –
Photo : Vincent PONTET –
CASTOR ET POLLUX –
Compositeur : Jean-Philippe RAMEAU –
Livret : Pierre-Joseph BERNARD –
Direction musicale : Teodor CURRENTZIS –
Mise en scene : Peter SELLARS –
Choregraphe principal : Cal HUNT –
Video : Alex MacINNIS –
Decors : Joelle AOUN –
Costumes : Camille ASSAF –
Lumiere : James F. INGALLS –
Dramaturgie : Antonio CUENCA RUIZ –
Choregraphie : Francoise GRES –
Chef des choeurs : Vitaly POLONSKY –
Avec :
Stephanie D OUSTRAC (Phebe) –
Natalia SMIRNOVA (une ombre heureuse et Venus) –
Marc MAUILLON (Pollux) –
Danse :
Christopher BEAUBRUN –
Jin LEE BAOBEI –
Andrew COLEMAN (dit Finesse) –
Xavier DAYS (dit X) –
Ablaye DIOP –
Ange EMMANUEL (dit Kendrickble) –
Kenza KABISSO –
Joshua MORALES (dit Sage) –
Tom MORNET BOUCHIBA (dit Tomorrow) –
Cordell PURNELL (dit Storm) –
Sarah QUERUT –
Edwin SACO (dit Jamsy) –
Oceane VALENCE –
Orchestre et choeurs : Utopia –
Le 16 01 2025 –
Au Palais Garnier –
Photo : Vincent PONTET –
