les vepres siciliennes royal opera house

LES VEPRES SICILIENNES ROYAL OPERA HOUSE MOVIE

Things remain largely the same for the next few hours: the dilating walls, the soldiers in boxes, the occasional ballerina. Herheim has relocated his staging to the mid-19th-century Opéra itself, casting the Sicilians as the restive performers and the French as their audience. “Vêpres,” which Verdi wrote for the Paris Opéra in 1855, tells the quasi-historical story of a Sicilian uprising against French occupation in 13th-century Palermo.

But this new production explores several of the preoccupations he has memorably examined elsewhere - from the coexistence of past and present to the blurriness of the line between illusion and reality - and renders them clichéd and dull.įor his overarching concept, he has turned to the oldest trick in the book: the theater within the theater. This Norwegian director is known for his deep, nearly archaeological layerings of narratives in any opera he is directing. 4, and that Salzburg “Meistersinger” is scheduled to arrive at the Metropolitan Opera in a few seasons.Īll the more disappointing, then, that his “Vêpres” pales in comparison with so much of his dazzling body of work.

LES VEPRES SICILIENNES ROYAL OPERA HOUSE MOVIE

“Vêpres” will be broadcast in movie theaters worldwide on Nov. Herheim’s career beyond the Continental companies where he has made his reputation. Conducted by the Royal’s music director, Antonio Pappano, who has spent more than a decade making the house a Verdi stronghold, the performance carried the promise that it would boost Mr.

Les vepres siciliennes royal opera house