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Earlier this week I saw a brilliant production of Rameau's Dardanus at the Lille Opera house, and I must say that overall it was one of the best opera productions I've ever seen.

Opera is the greatest of the fine arts simply because it brings them all together: orchestral music, acting, poetry, as well as the costume and set designs. Dardanus adds ballet to the mix as well: almost an hour's worth of ballet in a three-hour opera. Generally I don't consider myself much of a ballet fan, but in this case it was more than welcome because it gave one of the best parts of this opera, the instrumental score, more time to shine than it otherwise would get. Allow me to break down what made this production so great point-by-point.

The music. The orchestral score, performed by the baroque orchestra le Concert d'Astrée on period instruments, is phenomenal. I've been listening to a lot of Vivaldi on period instruments at home, and I say that Rameau is every bit as good a composer as Vivaldi is. He deserves to be better-known. That said, having a dedicated baroque orchestra to pull it off was probably important: the music does not let up and the strings (whom I could see from my balcony), barely had time to turn the pages in their scores, let alone catch their breath, in this three hour performance. They were incredible.

The story. Dardanus' libretto is excellent, if the opera is produced well (and here it unquestionably was). The allegories of the prelude have enough philosophical meat in them to merit reflecting on throughout the show and long afterward. The story itself is dominated by these themes, but with its mythical Trojan setting this seems entirely appropriate. When it came out, the libretto was criticised for being too disparate, and Rameau had to rework it. Nowadays, though, not having every facet of the narrative spelled out feels like a very modern way of storytelling, and doesn't seem out of place at all.

The staging. This production of Dardanus was not one of those ultra-modern abstract affairs which one often suspects are really so bare, not because of their artsy minimalism, but because the company has no money for large sets. While modern, this production had some impressive staging, highlighted by the magician Ismenor's cave, and the climactic battle with the Kraken at the end. It was just fantastic, and I think that Rameau would have been amazed to see Teucer's palace materialise on the scene in Act 3.

The performers. As I said above, the Concert d'Astrée's contribution, and Emmanuelle Haïm's conducting, were a major contributor to the power of this production. The showing I saw was being recorded for nationwide broadcast (check out France Musique on November 7th!), and at points I was thinking about how great this was going to sound on the radio—but being there in person was that much better!

Of the performers, I have to single out Sonya Yoncheva's Venus as the highlight for me. Venus is such a central character in this work, despite not having all that much stage time, but her great presence on stage helped sell her rôle as the central goddess of the story. (It probably helped, in my case, that I always pictured Venus as having Slavic features!) Marie-Bénédicte Souquet's little frame belied a surprisingly powerful voice. Of the lead characters, no one disappointed but I ought to single out Trevor Scheunemann and François Lis for having to sing a duet while kneeling, which struck me as quite a difficult feat.

Conclusion

Dardanus was a big deal for the Lille opera and heavily promoted, because it is a significant production in a number of ways. It is not well-known, having barely been staged at all in the last 100 years—despite having a great libretto, great music, and all kinds of great action! This is because it also takes a large cast and large orchestra, and scenes like a battle with a Kraken are intimidating things to stage. And there is about an hour's worth of ballet, in a day and age where most operas (and hence most opera companies) don't have any. The ballet usually serves as an interlude, allowing the music and choreography to elaborate on the emotions or themes that are happening at the various points of the play, so it integrates into the opera quite well. But the bottom line is that although this is a great opera, it is not easy to stage it, and to attempt it also implies succeeding in bringing in the crowds to justify such a large production. I was happy to see that, even though I went on a Tuesday night comparatively late in the show's run, the opera house was full, and with shows in Caen and Dijon next month, and the national rebroadcast on France Musique, the performances will reach a wider audience that way as well. So bravo, Opéra de Lille!