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Opera - Production by the Academy

New

L’Orfeo

Claudio Monteverdi

Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen

from 11 to 21 May 2016

1h50 with 1 interval

L’Orfeo

Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen - from 11 to 21 May 2016

Synopsis

« tu se’ morta, mia vita, ed io respiro
You are dead, my life, yet I still breathe.

tu se’ da me partita
You are gone from me

per mai più non tornare, ed io rimango ?
never to return and I remain?

no! ché, se i versi alcuna cosa ponno,
No, for if my verses possess any power

n’andrò sicuro a’più profondi abissi,

I will go undaunted to the deepest abysses.

e, intenerito il cor del re de l’ombre,
And having softened the heart of the King of Hades

meco trarrotti a riveder le stelle.
I will bring you back to see the stars again.

o, se ciò negherammi empio destino,
Or, if wicked destiny refuses me this,

rimarrò teco, in compagnia di morte.
I will stay with you in the company of death.

addio terra, addio cielo e sole, addio.
Farewell earth, farewell heaven and sun, farewell. »

Public Performance - See performances
11 May 2016 at 8 pm
13 May 2016 at 8 pm
19 May 2016 at 8 pm
21 May 2016 at 8 pm

School Performances - How book?
17 May 2016 at 2 pm

Duration : 1h50 with 1 interval

Artists

Favola in musica in a prologue and five acts (1607)

Creative team

  • Claudio Monteverdi
    Claudio Monteverdi Music
  • opera logo
    Alessandro Striggio Libretto
  • opera logo
    Geoffroy Jourdain Conductor
  • opera logo
    Julie Berès Director
  • Mirabelle Ordinaire
    Mirabelle Ordinaire Assistant stage director
  • opera logo
    Karim Bel Kacem Artistic collaboration
  • opera logo
    Ariana Vafadari Artistic collaboration
  • opera logo
    Julien Peissel Set design
  • opera logo
    Aurore Thibout Costume design
  • opera logo
    Cathy Olive Lighting design
  • opera logo
    Stéphanie Chène Choreography
  • opera logo
    Christian Archambeau Video
  • opera logo
    Philippe Dupuy Drawing
  • opera logo
    Leslie Six Dramaturgy

Cast

*Chanteurs de l’Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris
Orchestre et chœur Les Cris de Paris

Coproduction Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris, Les Cris de Paris

Media

  • Portfolio│Amphitheatre of the Underworld

    Portfolio│Amphitheatre of the Underworld

    Read the article

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

Portfolio│Amphitheatre of the Underworld

Read the article

Machinery in the entrails of L’Orfeo

06 min

Portfolio│Amphitheatre of the Underworld

By Erwan Allainmat

The artists of the Paris Opera’s Academy will be performing at the Bastille Amphithéâtre until May 21 in a new production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. The work, regarded as the first opera in the history of music, recounts the mythical story of the poet Orpheus and his quest to rescue his wife Eurydice from the Underworld: “I will go in confidence to the deepest abysses, and having softened the heart of the King of Shades, I will bring her back to see the stars once more!” (Orpheus, act II). Director Julie Berès has risen to the challenge of bringing such a world to life at the Bastille Amphithéâtre in a scenography that brings all its sense to the hemicycle. The master of these confines– stage hand technician Erwan Allainmat (not Hades!) – explains to us how the Dantean sets work.
Stage machinery is all the machines and equipment used to change sets and produce stage effects. As stage hand technicians, we carry out all the operations and oversee the special effects. It’s the first time that we’ve followed the creation of so ambitious an opera at the Amphitheatre. Even so, my colleague Cédric and I had to work fast to put together the set for L’Orfeo and we began assembling it two weeks before the première.
© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

The decor consists of a surface which covers the entire stage: in the centre, there’s a sloping structure, the edges of which are covered with fake grass which stretches all the way down to the feet of the audience. To make it seem even more like the mythical garden, trees "grow" both on stage and around the auditorium.

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

The central structure is comprised of different interlocking panels, each one built around an iron frame. The set engineer’s design office designed the structure so that it could rise during the second half of the show. In effect, when Eurydice goes back into the Underworld, a motor under the stage increases the slope’s gradient and turns it into a genuine hill which swallows up the soloist. We reinforce the structure’s overall stability with large stays that need to be silently and rapidly positioned under the stage. To enable ourselves and the singers to move around, we built a network of hidden gangways.

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

Once the sets are in place, we gradually familiarise ourselves with the production. During rehearsals, we make it possible for the artists to work in conditions as close as possible to those of the premiere. We adapt to the wishes of the director and the conductor and do our best to reconcile their input with the technical constraints imposed upon us.

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

Our greatest challenge is Eurydice's disappearance into the Underworld. The effect is possible thanks to a mobile floor that we call a “trap”. It’s a system which practically every theatre has and which enables actors and sets to appear and disappear. However, we needed to design one specially for the occasion. At the given moment in the performance, the soloist positions herself on the “trap”, we remove the safety catches holding it in place and support it on both sides with our shoulders. Thanks to a counterweight, we are able to guide the soloist's descent.

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

Our movements need to be executed in perfect time with the music. The beauty of the effect—and above all, the safety of soloist Laure Poissonnier who sings the role of Eurydice—depend on it. In the end, all these manoeuvres make up a sort of score which unfurls in tandem with that used by the musicians and singers. To ensure that we respect it, we stay in contact with Jean-Louis, the stage manager via headphones throughout the performance. He in turn leads the technicians like an orchestra conductor.

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

During the greater part of the performance, we move about out of sight inside the hill. However, in the third part of the performance, Jean-Marc the props man and myself are obliged to carry out a set change on stage in view of the audience. In our jargon, that’s called a "feu"( spotlight), because, for once, we are under the spotlights. In this type of procedure, so as to go unnoticed, we are generally dressed from head to toe in black but in L’Orfeo we are fully integrated into the staging. Wearing costumes and decked out in masks, we suddenly appear from the depths and frolic with the nymphs!

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

What I like about the Amphitheatre, is working in a theatre built on a human scale. It reintroduces a degree of versatility into the stagehand's job and underscores the importance of teamwork. We need to find practical solutions and oversee safety in close collaboration with all the technical and artistic staff and build a relationship based on trust with the soloists.

© Studio j’adore ce que vous faites !

Under Stéphane Lissner’s directorship, the management has decided to expand the programming at the Amphithéâtre and give it a greater role, which is an opportunity for us. It’s a transitional season in which we are increasingly being called upon to work in the space, first with another of the Academy’s productions Vol retour in December. After 11 years at the Paris Opera, I know the set assembly areas—which are located 6 levels and 40 metres under the stage—as well as the entire backstage area like the back of my hand. It’s a delight to discover the technical potential of a new performance space which I hope will become a “4th theatre” in its own right.


Interviewed by Milena Mc Closkey

Access and services

Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen

Place de la Bastille

75012 Paris

Public transport

Underground Bastille (lignes 1, 5 et 8), Gare de Lyon (RER)

Bus 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91, N01, N02, N11, N16

Calculate my route
Car park

Q-Park Opéra Bastille 34, rue de Lyon 75012 Paris

Book your parking spot

In both our venues, discounted tickets are sold at the box offices from 30 minutes before the show:

  • €35 tickets for under-28s, unemployed people (with documentary proof less than 3 months old) and senior citizens over 65 with non-taxable income (proof of tax exemption for the current year required)
  • €70 tickets for senior citizens over 65

Get samples of the operas and ballets at the Paris Opera gift shops: programmes, books, recordings, and also stationery, jewellery, shirts, homeware and honey from Paris Opera.

Opéra Bastille
  • Open 1h before performances and until performances end
  • Get in from within the theatre’s public areas
  • For more information: +33 1 40 01 17 82

Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen

Place de la Bastille

75012 Paris

Public transport

Underground Bastille (lignes 1, 5 et 8), Gare de Lyon (RER)

Bus 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91, N01, N02, N11, N16

Calculate my route
Car park

Q-Park Opéra Bastille 34, rue de Lyon 75012 Paris

Book your parking spot

In both our venues, discounted tickets are sold at the box offices from 30 minutes before the show:

  • €35 tickets for under-28s, unemployed people (with documentary proof less than 3 months old) and senior citizens over 65 with non-taxable income (proof of tax exemption for the current year required)
  • €70 tickets for senior citizens over 65

Get samples of the operas and ballets at the Paris Opera gift shops: programmes, books, recordings, and also stationery, jewellery, shirts, homeware and honey from Paris Opera.

Opéra Bastille
  • Open 1h before performances and until performances end
  • Get in from within the theatre’s public areas
  • For more information: +33 1 40 01 17 82

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