Today, the Opéra national de Paris presents the world première of Marc-André Dalbavie's opera Le Soulier de Satin (The Satin Slipper) with a libretto by Raphaèle Fleury after Paul Claudel's play.
It is the composer's third opera after Gesualdo (Zurich, October 9, 2010) and Charlotte Salomon (Salzburg, July 28, 2014).
The subject comes from a Chinese legend about two celestial stars in love who, each year, having travelled far, manage to come within reach of each other without ever being able to come together from the disparate sides of the Milky Way. It is an immense parable which alternates between the sublime, the comic and the disturbing. It is set in a specific era (the Spanish Golden Age) during which humanity experiences its first bout of 'globalization'. Confronting a passionate desire for individual happiness, external imperatives and an aspiration for the universal, the work leads the spectator into a ongoing state hovering between hypnosis and joy. (reproduced from the Opéra national de Paris website)
The cast includes mezzo Eve-Maud Hubeaux (Dona Prouhèze), bass baritonr Luca Pisaroni (Don Rodrigue de Manacor), baritone Marc Labonnette (Le père Jésuite, Le roi d'Espagne, Saint Denys), tenor Yann Beuron (Don Pélage), bass baritone Nicolas Cavallier (Don Balthazar, Saint Nicolas, Frère Léon), baritone Jean-Sébastien Bou (Don Camille), mezzo Béatrice Uria-Monzon (Dona Isabel, Dona Honoria), tenor Éric Huchet (Saint Boniface, Don Rodilard) and countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic (Saint Jacques, Saint Adlibitum). The composer conducts the Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris. Stanislas Nordey directs.
All performances begin at 2:00 PM and should last about 6 hours, including 2 intermissions. The venue is the Palais Garnier.
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