The opera season in Marseilles.

Past events.
On the 26th of september, Andrea Chenier opened the Season in Marseilles.
It was neither a striking performance nor a bad one. There was a major change in the cast as the soprano Sylvie Valayre could not make it. Irene Cerboncini had every thing to make a convincing Madeleine in love with the poet, but she evidently started this role and did not move according to the dramatic crescendo of the plot. Andrea on the contrary was quite at ease on stage but had no tops left and only at the end really gave a soft rendition which was much nicer than what I heard from him during the whole opera. The only striking voices came from the bass ones and the baritone Marco di Felice who stole the show: Beautiful rendition and acting, so the audience clapped a lot and the opening season was nicer from my point of view than last year. The orchestra did not over do it as often.
The staging was fine, quite stunning at the end. I cannot explain why I am not really fond of this music though some arias are fine.
I was not moved probably because I had the impression of reading a page of French history where some characters did not seem to be involved. And the music sounded crafty.

Production de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo

Direction musicale Fabrizio Maria Carminati­
Mise en scène Claire Servais
Assistant à la mise en scène ­Xavier Laforge
Décors Dominique Pichou
Costumes Christian Gasc

Madeleine de Coigny Irène Cerboncini
Comtesse de Coigny, Madelon Eugénie Grünewald
Bersi Varduhi Abrahamyan
Andrea Chénier Zoran Todorovich
Charles Gérard Marco di Felice
Un majordome, Schmidt Jean Marie Delpas­
L'abbé Guy Gabelle
Mathieu Philippe Ermelier
Un Incroyable Rémy Corazza
Roucher André ­Heyboer ­
Fouquier-Tinville Jean-Pascal Introvigne

Orchestre et Choeur de l'Opéra de Marseille