Every French Opera-lover of my generation has marveled at what was one of the most distinguished and loved production at the Paris Opera under the Liebermann area. It ended his regime in a televised performance with Solti returning to conduct with the likes of Janowitz, Popp, Von Stade, Van Dam, Bacquier, Moll. I was there and will always remember
In the following blog from colleague Ionarts, Gérard Mortier is blamed for having auctioned the original costumes and burned the sets. This production therefore is the result of the work to recreate the conditions of the premiere.
I loved but really loved this production and was not convinced by Mortier's replacement production by the team of Cambreling - Marthaler (whose work on Wozzeck or Katya was much stronger). This being said, I feel that Mortier's gesture is not without merits: despite best efforts by the French team, the revivals of Strehler's staging have not aged well and they feel uncharacterized compared to the originals.
By attempting to prevent further revivals, is not Mortier trying to tell us that proposing to audiences a "Strehler - production" is a fallacy ? Is not he actually the one more faithful to the spirit of the Italian director ?
(note for readers, this title is a variation on the famous French novel by G Cesbron ...)
