Plácido Domingo finalizes the rehearsals for Thaïs by Jules Massenet at the Palau de les Arts
21.03.2012
•The German Nicola Raab is the author of the staging of this production by the GöteborgsOperan
•Swedish soprano Malin Byström (Thaïs) and Plácido Domingo (Athanaël) lead the cast, which also includes the voices of Paolo Fanale, Gianluca Buratto, Micaëla Oeste, María José Suárez, Aldo Heo and Marina Rodríguez-Cusí from Valencia
Valencia (March 21, 2012) - Plácido Domingo is currently finalizing rehearsals for Thaïs by Jules Massenet, which premieres on March 25 at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
The artist sings for the first time in his career the role of Athanaël, written for the baritone range, in this production by the GöteborgsOperan with musical direction by Patrick Fournillier.
The French maestro is one of the great experts on the work of the French author, as well as co-founder and musical director of the Massenet Festival of Saint-Étienne. At the Palau de les Arts, he has directed Plácido Domingo in Cyrano de Bergerac by Alfano and Iphigénie in Tauride by Gluck.
Thaïs is the first of the operas with which the Valencian arts center and Plácido Domingo are paying tribute to Jules Massenet on the centenary of his death. Another opera by the French composer, Le Cid , in a concert version, with Plácido Domingo conducting, will close the Palau de les Arts' sixth season.
German director Nicola Raab is responsible for the staging of this innovative production, which moves the original action, set in Alexandria in the 4th century AD, to the end of the 19th century, the time when Massenet composed the work.
The story of Saint Thaïs, a beautiful and dissolute woman who renounces wealth and earthly pleasures to convert to Christianity and dedicate her life to prayer, first appears in literature in the work of the German canoness Hroswitha von Gandersheim in the 10th century. Later, Nobel laureate Anatole France based his novel Thaïs in 1890 on a French translation of her hagiography, which inspired the libretto for Massenet's opera, written by Louis Gallet.
Thaïs, a 'Comédie lyrique' in three acts and seven scenes, premiered on March 16, 1894, at the Opéra Garnier in Paris. Jules Massenet conceived the title role for the ill-fated soprano Sybil Sanderson, the most outstanding interpreter of his repertoire, whose career was cut short at the age of 38.
Nicola Raab delves into this historical context and the elements that influenced Massenet to transform the priestess into a 'femme fatale' inspired by the legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt, the Parisian diva who dominated the stage between the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.
Raab's approach relies on Johan Engels' set design and costumes and Linus Fellbom's lighting to recreate the 'fin de siècle' aesthetic and its taste for exoticism and contrasts: the sacred versus the profane; and opulence versus decadence.
Soprano Malin Byström takes on the title role. Her acclaimed performance as Thaïs at the premiere of this production in Gothenburg in 2010 has placed the Swedish singer on the radar of major opera houses. The rising star arrives at the Palau de les Arts after debuts at the Salzburg Festival, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and London's Covent Garden.
In this new production, Raab transforms the cenobite monk Athanaël (Plácido Domingo) into a man of deep religious convictions, entrusted with the conversion of the libertine young woman to Christianity in order to distance her from the materialistic and decrepit world in which she lives.
Paolo Fanale completes the trio of leading roles in this production. The young tenor embodies Nicias, Thaïs 's wealthy lover and the antagonist of the devout Athanaël in his crusade to redeem the dissolute actress. Paolo Fanale, from Palermo and one of the rising stars of the Italian operatic scene, previously sang the role of Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Palau de les Arts in 2009.
The cast of Thaïs also features the voices of Italian bass Gianluca Buratto (Palémon), American soprano Micaëla Oeste (Crobyle), and Valencian mezzo-soprano Marina Rodríguez-Cusí (Myrtale). Asturian mezzo-soprano María José Suárez (Albine) and bass Aldo Heo (Servant), from the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo, complete the ensemble.
Thaïs is performed on March 25, 28 and 31, and April 3, 12 and 15.
