"Le Cerisaie" Does Not Succeed in Blossoming at Palais Garnier

Elena Kelessidi as Madame Lyuba Ranyevskaya in the Philippe Fenelon opera La Cerisaie adapted from Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard. (Photo: Andrea Messana/Opera de Paris)

"What were they thinking of? There is so much that is bafflingly wrong with Philippe Fénelon’s new opera – score, libretto and staging – that it is hard to know where to begin. But let’s start with the choice of Chekhov, hardly an obvious option even if the dominant introspective tone in his plays should appeal strongly to contemporary opera composers’ aversion to eventful narrative. Fénelon’s often dirge-like score – steeped as usual in Berg but this time heavy with quotes from Russian music – adds insult to injury with aggressive, overwritten orchestration. It too often seems geared to Dostoyevskian angst or a Solzhenitsyn gulag and jars with a fin-de-race family weighing its memories and confronting the end of an era. Even leavened with traditional lullabies and harmonious choruses – but also an embarrassing lift from Verdi’s Masked Ball on the feeble grounds that this is the act where the ball takes place – it is still an exhausting onslaught on the ears. Georges Lavaudant’s staging and Jean-Pierre Vergier’s glacial, hideous sets and costumes deliver the coup de grâce. Lavaudant works hard to outbid Fénelon with corny ideas. Monologues are swamped in useless background agitation; a ballerina flutters on so often, she seems to be justifying her fee, while a chorus of babushka peasants is handled with comical woodenness." The singing was apparently very good, click here for the rest of the review. [Source]

Third Time May Be a Charm for Palais Garnier Restaurant

"After three attempts since 1875, a restaurant opened its doors on the eastern facade of the building in 2011. It was designed by French architect Odile Decq. The chef is Christophe Aribert." [Source]

"Recessed within the historical building, visitors pass the facade's original pillars to enter the undulating interior. The mezzanine space is carefully integrated to resist touching the existing structure's walls, columns and roof. The contemporary addition compliments the classical details of the vaulted stone ceiling without altering history. Accommodating and seating 90 guests at one time, the large floor plate is suspended with concealed steel plates. A glass wall encompasses the interior isolating the space from the existing shell. The billowing white structure touches down to the lower level producing integrated organic supports." Lots of really great photos here. One more image after the jump. [Source]

George Michael Begins Symphonica Tour in Opera Venues

"International pop star George Michael launches his first European tour in three years at Prague’s State Opera House on Monday night facing some technical hurdles to his new orchestral format. The British pop idol’s Symphonica tour has some of Michael’s biggest hits over the last 30 years and favorites from other artists adapted to the orchestra. But the new orchestral version has apparently caused some headaches for the 700-seat Czech theater, which in the past hosted the likes of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Enrico Caruso. ‘Most of the whole shebang I’ve put together for you doesn’t fit on the tiny [Prague] stage.’ Former Wham! star Michael complains in a Twitter post that “most of the whole shebang I’ve put together for you doesn’t fit on the tiny stage.” “But hopefully what we lose in terms of staging we’ll gain in terms of intimacy,” he adds. Other venues include the massive O2 World hall in Berlin, Florence’s large Piazza Santa Croce, and London’s Royal Albert Hall. Whatever the technical problems, Michael’s one-night Prague debut to a four-month tour finishing in London on December 17, with a last gasp one-off concert at the Palais Garnier, Paris, on April 29, 2012, is already a sell-out in spite of ticket prices starting at Kč 2,500 — around a tenth of the average Czech monthly wage." [Source]