Emmanuel Chabrier's L'Etoile
Laurent Pelly (stage director), Patrick Fournillier (conductor) — With Stéphanie d’Oustrac (Lazuli), Cristophe Mortagne (Le Roi Ouf) and Hélène Guilmette (La Princesse Laoula)
Cast
Laurent Pelly — Stage director, costumes
Chantal Thomas — Set designer
Joël Adam — Lighting
Agathe Melinand — Dramatist
Stéphanie d'Oustrac — Lazuli
Christophe Mortagne — Le Roi Ouf
Jérôme Varnier — Siroco
Program notes
Discover Emmanuel Chabrier's L'Étoile (The Star), an opéra bouffe in three acts staged by the widely acclaimed Laurent Pelly at the Dutch National Opera! Chabrier's offbeat scenario takes us into the imaginary kingdom of King Ouf, a king whose yearly birthday celebrations take a most curious form: a public execution. This year, he chooses the peddler Lazuli, who speaks insultingly of the king, as the intended victim. But the king's astrologer informs him that his destiny is inextricably linked with that of Lazuli, and that the two will die within twenty-four hours of one another…
Stage director Laurent Pelly admirably brings out the surrealism, humor, and poetry in the work, keeping the playfulness and whimsy of this 19th-century gem intact. He relies on an expert cast who all succeed brilliantly in walking the line between comedy and farce, from a magnificent Stéphanie d'Oustrac as Lazuli to tenor Christophe Mortagne, a beloved mainstay of European opera stages, as King Ouf. The Hague Philharmonic under Patrick Fourniller interprets Chabrier's score with charm and grace, joined by the world-class singers of the Dutch National Opera Chorus.
