Latest news with #PelléasetMélisande
Courier-Mail
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
King Charles unveils painful-looking injury while hosting French president Emmanuel Macron
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News. IN LONDON King Charles appears to have suffered from a burst blood vessel in his eye as he stepped into the spotlight to host a high-profile state visit. The British monarch, who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, was sporting a bright red right eye in pictures taken as he welcomed French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife, First Lady Brigitte, to Windsor on Tuesday. According to The Sun, his eye was affected overnight prior to the visit and is unrelated to any other health conditions. The King was joined by the Queen and Prince William and Kate, the Princess of Wales, in a royal carriage procession with the Macrons. The King appeared in Windsor with a painful-looking red eye. Picture: Dylan Martinez –It's understood his eye was affected sometime overnight before the state visit began. Picture: Dylan Martinez –Following the carriage procession, Mr and Mrs Macron had lunch with the royal family at Windsor Castle. It marks the first time a state visit has been hosted at that royal residence, rather than Buckingham Palace, in more than a decade. It's also the first French state visit to the UK in almost 20 years, following former president Nicolas Sarkozy's 2008 visit. The senior royals welcomed the French couple to Windsor. Picture: Dylan Martinez –Following lunch, Mr Macron laid a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey before heading to the Palace of Westminster to address the British parliament. On Tuesday evening, UK time, he and his wife will be the gests of honour at a State Banquet at Windsor Castle. Meanwhile, details of the four gifts brought to Windsor by Mr Macron for the King have been revealed, with each piece carefully chosen to reflect his personal interests. It includes a rare, special edition of Claude Debussy's opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, which features a handwritten dedication from the original publisher to one of the performers, a ceremonial trumpet associated with the French National Guard, a personalised, luxury watercolour box and a gourmet hamper of sweet and savoury delicacies from France. Originally published as King Charles unveils painful-looking injury while hosting French president Emmanuel Macron
Spectator
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Brave and beautiful: Longborough's Pelléas et Mélisande reviewed
King Arkel, in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, is almost blind, and he rules over a kingdom of darkness. Debussy's score is so luminous that it's easy to forget just how dark it supposedly is, this mythical realm of Allemonde – even despite the libretto's references to gloomy caves, shadowy castles and forests that block out the sunlight. Many productions take their visual cues from the music rather than the words, providing endless opportunity for shimmering effects and the subtle play of light and shade. Jenny Ogilvie's staging for Longborough Festival Opera doesn't just embrace the darkness; it goes all in. Shadows texture the huge, brutalist wall of Arkel's castle and occasionally – briefly – it's pierced by shafts of sunlight. But the visual default here is inky blackness, in which occasional points of light are almost characters in their own right. A single lightbulb darts about like a moth; a fluorescent bar makes a foil sheet glitter like water. Occasional low washes catch faces in profile and turn the scene icy-blue, or flood it with soft gold as the two lovers accept their destiny. It's a hugely impressive achievement; one of a growing list of recent opera productions in which the lighting designer (here, Peter Small) makes the running. Still, gloom has its drawbacks. I was sitting five rows back from the orchestra, and even there the mystery sometimes felt a little too profound. How it came across to visually impaired audience members, I wouldn't like to guess. On the other hand, the Longborough auditorium is so compact that no one is very far from the performers, and there are huge benefits in staging a lush, late-romantic opera in a venue where both orchestra and cast can whisper or roar without inhibition. As Pelléas, Karim Sulayman was practically conversational, in a role usually sung by a rather heavier voice. He barely needed to project at all – the embodiment of openness against Brett Polegato's tormented, slow-burn Golaud. As a lover, Sulayman made a desperately naive counterpart to Kateryna Kasper, a Mélisande who gave nothing away. And I mean nothing. Dressed like some Singer Sargent heiress, with a face that flickered between radiance and china-doll blankness, Kasper was as enigmatic (and as compelling) as Debussy and Maeterlinck surely intended. Bell-like and bright at volume, she placed her quieter phrases gently into the silence – a sonic equivalent of those solitary light sources, throwing the surrounding performances into powerful relief. She was especially potent alongside Julian Close's Arkel, a role that feels even more tragic when the old King is as compassionate, and as majestically sung, as he was here The conductor was LFO's Wagnerian-in-chief Anthony Negus, a master of intimacy coupled to long-range command. In this venue you can really feel the grain of the orchestra, and Negus stretched velvet expanses of shadowy sound between sudden, flashing glimpses of ecstasy – moments when the orchestra was as agile (and as soft) on its feet as a cat. True, not everything in Ogilvie's production worked, and in the last scene – with the dying Mélisande encased in a Damien Hirst fishtank – you could practically hear the collective 'eh?' from the audience. But by then, a spell had been cast. There's an authority and assurance about this Pelléas that feels like a company stepping up to the next artistic level. It was brave, and – at its best – very beautiful indeed. Grange Park Opera also deserves points for courage; its new production of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa delivers a brutal torture scene immediately before the picnic break. Big respect, too, for the way that GPO has given director David Pountney a platform for his ongoing love affair with the Slavic operas that no one else will touch. Mazeppa was a Ukrainian Cossack leader who rebelled against Peter the Great, but Pountney avoids overt point-making, which is probably wise. A couple of years back an opera at Grange Park featured a simulated storming of the theatre by Vladimir Putin's Spetsnatz. Impressive, but giving your audience heart attacks is not a sustainable business model. Anyway, the setting – a generic modern war zone – is vividly realised; the singing sounds admirably Eastern Bloc and Pountney does his best to energise the story, presenting Mazeppa (David Stout) as a hairy biker and his child bride Mariya (Rachel Nicholls, who can do melancholy as well as cold steel) as a sort of groupie. The main problem is Tchaikovsky, who can't decide whether Mazeppa is hero or monster, and never quite gets a grip on his material. A string of extended lyrical soliloquies and duets works a treat when you're adapting Eugene Onegin, but it's less effective when your story climaxes with the Battle of Poltava. Still Mazeppa is a bucket-list opera for Slavophiles, and for the foreseeable future we're unlikely to see it done better. Or, to be honest, at all.
CairoScene
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Abu Dhabi Festival & Paris Opera Announce Historic First Co-Production
The production premiered at Opéra Bastille in Paris on February 28th, 2025, and runs until March 27th. Mar 03, 2025 The Abu Dhabi Festival and Opéra National de Paris have launched a historic co-production of Claude Debussy's 'Pelléas et Mélisande', marking the first collaboration between the Arab world and the French opera house. Directed by Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad and conducted by Antonello Manacorda, the production premiered at Opéra Bastille in Paris on February 28th, 2025, and runs until March 27th. 'Pelléas et Mélisande', composed by Claude Debussy and first performed in 1902, is a symbolist opera based on Maurice Maeterlinck's play of the same name. The opera's atmospheric score and impressionistic style explore themes of love, fate, and human emotion. The story follows the tragic love triangle between Prince Golaud, his mysterious wife Mélisande, and his younger half-brother Pelléas, unfolding in a dreamlike setting that enhances the opera's enigmatic and psychological depth. Under the patronage of UAE leaders, the initiative is part of Abu Dhabi Festival's mission to expand global artistic partnerships. Featuring soprano Sabine Devieilhe and baritone Huw Montague Rendall, the opera explores love and destiny with a set design by Emmanuel Clolus.
Trade Arabia
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Trade Arabia
Abu Dhabi Festival, Opéra national de Paris premiere new production
Abu Dhabi Festival is celebrating the opening of its historic collaboration with the Opéra national de Paris for Wajdi Mouawad's new production of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande – marking the first collaboration of its kind with the Arab World. This eagerly awaited new production premiered at the Opéra Bastille in Paris on February 28 and will continue until March 27. The event was held under the honorary founding patronage of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and under the patronage of Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan. As part of the Festival's Abroad programme, this landmark co-production is the first between a Middle Eastern institution and the prestigious Opéra national de Paris. It reaffirms the Festival's commitment to strengthening international cultural partnerships and advancing creative excellence through artistic exchange, further elevating UAE and Abu Dhabi's global cultural influence and stature. An operatic masterpiece by French composer Claude Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande premiered in 1902 as a symbolist opera based on Maurice Maeterlinck's play of the same name. Set to an evocative, atmospheric score that remains one of Debussy's most lauded works, the production explored themes of love, fate and the fragility of human emotions. Renowned Lebanese-Canadian director and playwright, Wajdi Mouawad, celebrated for his profound storytelling and innovative theatrical vision, returns to Opéra national de Paris with his second production. His direction is enriched by internationally acclaimed conductor Antonello Manacorda, Chorus Master Alessandro Di Stefano and a stunning set design by Emmanuel Clolus. Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and Founder & Artistic Director of Abu Dhabi Festival, said: 'Under the honorary founding patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, we present the world premiere of Wajdi Mouawad's new production of the masterpieces by the world-renowned composer Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande. Lebanese-Canadian director Wajdi Mouawad will share his innovative direction at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, in a co-production of the Opéra national de Paris and the Abu Dhabi Festival. This historic collaboration is the first and largest of its kind between the prestigious French opera and the Arab world.' She continued: 'This historic performance comes as a reflection of our renewed commitment to promoting cultural diplomacy and our dedication to building human civilisation and envisioning a bright future for the global cultural and arts scene. With soprano star Sabine Devieilhe, renowned British baritone Huw Montague Rendall, and the brilliant world-renowned maestro Antonello Manacorda, performances of the famous Pelléas et Mélisande opera will continue from 28 February to 27 March, highlighting human emotions such as love, loyalty, honesty, hatred, and jealousy, and embodying the rich operatic legacy of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande since its first performance at the beginning of the 20th century. "The co-production of Pelléas et Mélisande by Abu Dhabi Festival and Opéra national de Paris highlights the Festival's long-term vision of fostering multifaceted relationships with leading global arts institutions through meaningful and innovative collaborations that create lasting legacies. It also reflects the deepening cultural ties between the UAE and the global arts community, positioning Abu Dhabi as a key player on the international cultural stage,' she added. Alexander Neef, General Director of Opéra national de Paris, said: "The Paris Opera is delighted to bring this new production of et Pelléas Mélisande to life in co-production with the Abu Dhabi Festival, under the direction of Wajdi Mouawad and the baton of Antonello Manacorda, with Huw Montague Rendall and Sabine Devieilhe in the title roles. I am grateful to the Abu Dhabi Festival for their support in enriching our operatic repertoire and their dedication to arts and culture. I look forward to this shared artistic journey, as we pursue a common ambition for artistic excellence." Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani, Ambassador of the UAE to France, said: 'The historic co-production of Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande between Abu Dhabi Festival and the Opéra National de Paris highlights the power of cultural diplomacy to strengthen the enduring friendship between the UAE and France. 'This landmark collaboration - the first of its kind between a Middle Eastern, or Arab, cultural institution and one of the world's most prestigious opera houses - reflects the UAE's commitment to fostering artistic excellence and cross-cultural dialogue. 'Abu Dhabi Festival continues to create new pathways between countries, artists and audiences through its groundbreaking partnerships with international institutions. By reimagining a timeless opera, this collaboration enhances Abu Dhabi's global cultural presence and reaffirms the arts as a bridge for mutual understanding and cooperation between our two nations." Nicolas Niemtchinow, Ambassador of the France to the UAE, said: 'I am delighted that the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF), through its flagship initiative, the Abu Dhabi Festival, is collaborating with the Opéra national de Paris to co-produce Pélléas et Mélisande for the first time on Friday, 28 February 2025, in Paris. "This masterpiece, which explores the themes of love and destiny, is one of Claude Debussy's most famous operas. This exceptional performance underlines the ever-deepening cultural ties between France and the United Arab Emirates. Congratulations to ADMAF on this great success! On the strength of exceptional iconic symbols such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Franco-Emirati relationship in the cultural sphere is now enhanced by promising new projects in the field of music. Together with the UAE, we are advancing our cultural relationship, breaking new ground, and looking toward the future.'
