Berlioz: Les Troyens **
Opéra de Paris, 25th January 2019
What if, after the Fall of Troy, Énée doesn’t end up in Carthage, courting Didon, but washes up in a residential home for war victims suffering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder instead? And there, in a nutshell, you have Dmitri Tcherniakov’s sole idea for Part 2 of Les Troyens. Pier Luigi Pizzi’s staging of Berlioz’ epic opera inaugurated the Bastille – Opéra de Paris’ breeze-block bunker – back in March 1990. Nearly 30 years on, Tcherniakov’s new production, which suffered the high profile cancellations of Bryan Hymel and Elīna Garanča during rehearsals, desecrates Berlioz’ masterpiece, meeting vociferous hostility at the curtain call.
Stéphanie d’Oustrac (Cassandre)
© Vincent Pontet | Opéra national de Paris
Read the full review on Bachtrack.