In search of a lost life

Since 1948, the ex-en-province has been held in the summer opera festival, in recent years, more and more, more and more significant for its productions, both original and created in cooperation with other festivals and theaters. This summer it was possible to empathize with the adventures of Iolanta and Persephons, which gave rise to the fantasy of Kurentsis and Sellars, plunge into the hot summer dreams of Britten and Karsen, try to escape from the cruel seral of Kushey, get lost with children in the maze of the minotaur, but, of course, be saved with the help of a noble knight Rattle and him magic wand.

But the author of these lines visited the magic island erected on the most new opera scene of EXS. The Bolshoi Theater of Provence opened in 2007, the spectators are led by the streets of Wolfgang Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi, he will seem small visitor to the Bolshoi Theater, the theater is in the open air, and his services are amazingly friendly and vigilant.

The story of the island of the sorceress Altsina is quite old. The premiere of Gandel’s opera took place in London in 1735, the composer was inspired by the sonorous stanzas of the “frantic Roland” Ludovico Ariosto, who, in turn, of course, recalled the wanderings of the heroes of the Homeric epic circle: “Kirka once smelled the friends of Odysseus / the ears of the ears ...” (a fragment of the composition of Alkman).

The content of the plot intrigue is as follows. Sailors, by the will of fate of those who have fallen to the island, where the sisters of Alcin and Morgan rule, expects a rather strange fate: they are inexorably converted either in sexual slaves or animals. Probably, Handel, with the help of an allegory, hinted at the human desire to rip off the crown of creation and imitate the worst instincts of wordless creatures. One of the lovers of Alcin was Rudgero’s knight, and to the island, to help the hero, his bride Bradamant, dressed as a knight, lands. The efforts of several women on stage reigning a complete mess. In the end, the magic forces are plunged, trampled, the travelers are again returned to their former appearance, the bride returns the groom, and the sisters remain at the broken trough.

The magical island of Alcin in exse arose thanks to the efforts of director Katie Mitchell, better known for his works in the Drama Theater, and conductor Andrea Marcon, a major specialist in Baroque music.

Fantasy Mitchell transformed the sorceress’s palace into the shelter of the libertines, where, throughout the performance, the palm of the championship disputed “idle valor” and “shameful pleasure”. Mitchell's two-tier palace chambers formally resembled Chernyakov’s “Votzeck, but the essence of the concept was completely different-they simultaneously showed events that took place at different times. In one Bidermeerovsky living room-spell, the action of Handel’s opera developed, while in other side rooms the old sisters survived their age, bitterly recalling the former joys. In the upper tier of the scenery, there was a conveyor, turning warriors and hunters into animal stuffed animals - not without the magic spell of erotomaniacs and taxidermis. The pacifist and environmental pathos of the director can be noted.

Mitchell sisters sincerely consider their island “Elysium for the living”, live sweet hope that erotic and masochistic practices are a recipe for eternal bliss. The consciousness of the knights of both sexes is poisoned by fatalism: their oaths are carried away by the wind, and they live in the belief that all beautiful should return to the “terrifying original state”, and therefore sow around themselves betrayal and destruction.

Mitchell does not stand on someone’s side, you feel some of her hostility to all the heroes, without exception, which helps her maintain objectivity. She does not offer the audience cleansing due to other people's suffering and is not going to console anyone. The Elysium of the sisters turns into an island of defeated love. Together with the loss of love, Alcin and Morgan lose their magical power, becoming living mummies in glass cubes.

The utopian prison for travelers is as unreliable as the love dungeon, built by the hero of Romanov Proust, for the obstinate captive of Albertina. Both Rudgero’s knight and the “girl in color” of Albertin run from gold cells, and only memories remain the destiny of noble jailers. Too flying fantasies, miracles and feelings turn out to be defeated by force, perseverance and treachery.

But the magical island of Alcina created by the composer’s imagination and skill, still exists in the form of a score. And here you need to tell about another component of the performance. Andrea Markon, together with the musicians of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, not only woven from melodies an amazingly transparent canvas, but also found in the bright music of Handel's Abyss of Iedsome and despair. The dubious and doubtful knight Rudero sang the magnificent Philip Zarussian, whose voice was simultaneously a crystal bell, playful wine and hidden hysteria. The title party was performed by Patricia Petibon, who, with incredible passion and high skill, played the tragedy of a hardy and unfortunate woman - the tragedy is all the more hopeless that she was committed with a complete understanding of what was happening. Her heroine loses not only love, but in fact life. Forces, thoughts leave her, she turns into a barely living scarecrow. Only a magical voice that is invincible remains.

The production of Altsina is a joint production of the festival in ex-en-provence and the Bolshoi Theater of Russia. In a year and a half, this excellent performance should also be seen by Moscow spectators.