Hans Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Just returned from watching Opera Lafayette perform 'Le Déserteur', a baroque opéra comique, at the Kennedy Center. It was performed mostly concert style, with the singers performing their arias in French and acting as necessary to complement the theatrical narration, in English. The performance also included a dancer from the New York Baroque Dance company who was very charming. There was a lot of beautiful singing, particularly from the men, and the orchestra was delightful. An extremely pleasant (and too short) evening. Link to comment
rg Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Ivor Guest's companion histories: BALLET OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT and BALLET UNDER NAPOLEON both include much attention to LE DESERTEUR (the Gardel and Dauberval ballets of this title). Link to comment
dirac Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Thank you for telling us about the performance, Hans (and thanks to rg for the additional information). Did the dancer have much to do? Link to comment
bart Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Sounds wonderful. For those in New York, this production will be performed on Wednesday (2/4) at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center. http://www.operalafayette.org/ In April they will be doing Handel's L'Allegro ed il Pensieroso, but that seems to be in DC only. Link to comment
Hans Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yes, the dancer was onstage nearly the entire time, providing both mime and dancing. I don't think every step was historically accurate--a pirouette in attitude derrière at nearly 90º presumably would not have been performed by someone wearing the long skirts of the period (she was costumed in a calf-length skirt) but the way she used her upper body was very beautiful. A review in the Washington Post called her inclusion superfluous, but I disagree; the singers did very little besides stand there, so the dancing was welcome. Trust an opera critic to call the dancing superfluous. Link to comment
YouOverThere Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Trust an opera critic to call the dancing superfluous. As I understand it, Le Deserteur marked the beginning of a trend towards more serious plots in French opera. If that is the case, I don't understand why the WP "critic" would say that it wasn't worth resurrecting. Link to comment
dirac Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Yes, the dancer was onstage nearly the entire time, providing both mime and dancing. I don't think every step was historically accurate--a pirouette in attitude derrière at nearly 90º presumably would not have been performed by someone wearing the long skirts of the period (she was costumed in a calf-length skirt) but the way she used her upper body was very beautiful. A review in the Washington Post called her inclusion superfluous, but I disagree; the singers did very little besides stand there, so the dancing was welcome. Trust an opera critic to call the dancing superfluous. Thanks for the description, Hans. Link to comment
Recommended Posts