29-Oct / 0 COMMENTS

 

Last night I was invited by the opera company OPERA2DAY to watch the try-out of Médée by Cherubini. I was invited in my capacity of cover for the role of second lady in this production. Due to the great success last year, the company has the pleasure of bringing back this masterpiece, with a few minor staging changes. This current interpretation of Médée combines spoken modern French and slightly avant-garde composition (composed especially for the performance) that brings the heart wrenching story of Médée to our modern public.

 

I enjoyed myself immensely. Two things stood out in this performance. The first was the role of Néris, played and sung by Marine Fribourg. That singer is really coming into her own. She stepped in because one of the singers could not make it yesterday, and did a marvelous job. She executed Néris’ aria with grace and feeling that really touched me. The second brilliant thing that evening was the singing of Sabrina Cicera as Médée. The third act is especially tasking for that role and her voice kept so strong and rich that is was truly a pleasure.

 

The more I experience the classic tragic repertoire, the more I realize how important it is to be versed in the craft of expressing the passions. For my taste, the spoken French dialogues could have been developed even more. Usually occurring in parts of extreme tension and pain, I would have wished them to be dynamic moments of utmost expression. The choice to disconnect them from the rest of the piece, to show the underbelly of the story is a beautiful one, but it demands from the singers to dig deeper and bring unusual levels of emotion and vulnerability. Unfortunately not all of that translated to the audience last night.

 

On the whole a real pleasure and a joy. Buy your tickets for Médée now– cause they are running out fast 🙂