Frog love

For the past few weeks, a simple picture of frog could be seen on almost every Litfaßsäule in Zürich. Did it advertise a scientific exposition about amphibians? Was it an ecological campaign? No, that was the poster announcing the premiere of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Platée in Opernhaus Zürich. This rarely staged and in many ways unique piece debuted there on the 10th of December 2023.

The cast of Platée impressed us not only with the musical level of the singers but first and foremost with the way each of them has been well suited for the role. Evan Hughes possesses both the majestic voice and stage presence to dominate the stage as a truly imposing Jupiter, while Katia Ledoux as his furiously jealous spouse, Junon, takes advantage of the sheer size and volume of her voice – easily the biggest among the cast - to make her tempestuous entrances and fits of rage all the more convincing. Two singers cast in secondary roles, Nathan Haller as Mercury and Tania Lorenzo as Cupid deserve to be mentioned as particularly pleasing voices, outstandingly well suited for the music of Rameau (or the French baroque in general). Finally, the titular character itself performed by Mathias Vidal: it is no easy feat to portray such a grotesque character convincingly without sacrificing the musical beauty for the sake of comicality. With his dark, at times muddy tenor, Mathias Vidal found the right balance between sounding musically beautiful and staying in character as the ridiculous, shabby nymph of the swamps. All this vocal excellence shines all the more brightly when placed upon instrumental fundament set down by orchestra La Scintilla under the direction of Emmanuelle Haïm. This ensemble of great versatility, with repertoire reaching as late as to the music of Giuseppe Verdi, has now firmly established itself also as one capable of delivering quality, highly idiomatic renditions of French baroque.

The spectacle directed by Jetske Mijnssen maintained just about the perfect amount of authentic baroque aesthetic to retain the spirit of Rameau's epoch within its modern setting, although mixing the two has also somewhat clashed at the expense of coherence of the entire spectacle. The two main ballet scenes, one of which was very much historical while the other – entirely modernised - seemed to allude to Broadway revues, left us with the impression that the creators of Zürich's Platée have had perhaps too many different ideas for a single opera. Fortunately enough, the farcical nature of Rameau's work forgives easily this excess of creativity, making it amusing rather than bothersome. It seems rather unlikely for any modern stage director to embrace the somewhat cruel and insensitive humour of Platée without attempting to shift the tone in a direction more compassionate towards the titular character. Jetske Mijnssen manages to do that all the while retaining the original comedy. She makes us laugh at Platée but not without feeling at least a little bit bad about it, aware of all the malice involved in Jupiter's "prank".

Opernhaus Zürich's Platée original run will last until January the 16th. One should not miss the opportunity to see this unique piece of French baroque opera in a rendition that gives it justice.

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„Platée" - komp. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Ballet bouffon in a prologue and three acts
Libretto by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d'Orville and Balot de Sovot
after a piece by Jacques Autreau
Music Direction Emmanuelle Haïm Producer Jetske Mijnssen Stage design Ben Baur Costumes
Hannah Clark Lighting designer Bernd Purkrabek Choreography Kinsun Chan Chorus Master Janko
Kastelic Dramaturgy Kathrin Brunner
Platée - Mathias Vidal
Jupiter- Evan Hughes
Junon - Katia Ledoux
Satyre/Cithéron - Renato Dolcini
Thespis - Alasdair Kent
Mercure - Nathan Haller
La Folie - Mary Bevan
Momus - Theo Hoffman
Clarine/Thalie - Anna El-Khashem
Amour - Tania Lorenzo

Krzysztof Żelichowski
Dziennik Teatralny Zurych
13 grudnia 2023