Robert Lepage Makes MET Debut With 'La Damnation de Faust' Starting 11/7

Noted director Robert Lepage makes his Met debut with a technologically innovative new production of Hector Berlioz’s masterpiece, La Damnation de Faust, opening on November 7. Music Director James Levine will conduct the first staging of the work at the Met since 1906, with Marcello Giordani in the title role, Susan Graham as Marguerite, and John Relyea as Méphistophélès.  La Damnation de Faust will be transmitted worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series on Saturday, November 22 at 1 p.m. (EST).

Lepage has reconceived the production he originally created for Japan's Saito Kinen Festival and the Opéra National de Paris. The new staging features enhanced media and technology that was not previously available — some of which was developed by Lepage and his Quebec-based company, Ex Machina. The entire production team is making its Met debut: set designer Carl Fillion, costume designer Karin Erskine, lighting designer Sonoyo Nishikawa, the choreographers Johanne Madore and Alain Gautier, and video designers Holger Foerterer and Boris Firquet.

In this innovative production, performers' movements, as well as their voices, will set video projections in motion. "Because I was interested in finding a meeting point between the theatricality of opera and the cinematic world,” Lepage said, “I have to create this kind of portal where those two ways of telling stories would meet. The whole idea is not to create images that are overwhelming and overpowering, eclipsing the music. On the contrary, all the visuals should be triggered by the music.” Lepage used similar technology for KÀ, his multi-media work for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. Met audiences will see more of his unusual approach when the director unveils his new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, beginning in the 2010-2011 season. “La Damnation de Faust is an opportunity for us to set the basis of the visual language and the technologies and interactive technologies that are going to be used in the Ring,” he says.

“The vision of a person like Lepage is so strong,” says James Levine, “and the technological means he has are extraordinary. The Met’s musical forces are ideal for this piece, as was demonstrated by our performance of it [in concert] at Carnegie Hall several years ago. I think together we can put something unbelievably exciting on the stage.”

La Damnation de Faust runs for eight performances through December 4. Derrick Inouye will conduct the final performance.

 About the performers

Earlier this season, the renowned Italian tenor Marcello Giordani reprised the role of Pinkerton in Anthony Minghella’s production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which he also performed at its premiere on opening night in 2006. In the span of less than six months last season at the Met, Giordani appeared in five operas. He sang Edgardo in Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, which opened the season; Roméo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (replacing an ailing colleague on short notice); added the title role in Verdi's Ernani to his Met repertoire; and appeared in two Puccini works, as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut which was transmitted worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series. Giordani has participated in two Met premieres: as Gualtiero in Bellini's Il Pirata (2002), and as the eponymous hero of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini (2003). He made his Met debut in 1995 as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème.

American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who made her Met role debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni earlier this season, returns to the part she performed nine years ago in Lepage's production of La Damnation de Faust in Japan. Last season she sang the title role in the Met’s new production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, and for the first time at the Met was Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. She has also taken part in two world premieres at the Met, as JorDan Baker in John Harbison's The Great Gatsby (1999) and as Sondra Finchley in An American Tragedy (2005), by Tobias Picker. She hosted last season’s HD transmission of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, this season’s Opening Night Gala, and will host the upcoming HD presentation of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic on November 8. A 1988 Met National Council finalist, Graham made her Met debut as the Second Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 1991 and quickly moved to major roles, including three by Mozart: Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and Idamante in Idomeneo. Among the parts in her wide-ranging Met career are two trouser roles by Richard Strauss, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as Charlotte in Massenet's Werther.

Bass-baritone John Relyea appeared in two new productions at the Met last season, as Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and as Banquo in Verdi’s Macbeth. He sang Garibaldo in the Met premiere of Handel's Rodelinda in 2004, as well as Don Basilio in Bartlett Sher’s ebullient new production of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (2006-07), which was shown in The Met: Live in HD series. Relyea made his Met debut in 2000 as Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola and has also been heard in the title role in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, as Masetto in Don Giovanni, Colline in La Bohème, the Night Watchman in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Giorgio in I Puritani (another Live in HD transmission).

In the years since making his 1971 Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Puccini’s Tosca, Music Director James Levine has forged a relationship with the company that is both unparalleled in its history and unique in today’s musical world. He has conducted 83 operas and close to 2,500 performances at the Met, a record no one else has even approached. Maestro Levine has previously conducted La Damnation de Faust in concert with the Met Orchestra and Chorus at Carnegie Hall in 1996 and in Tokyo as part of the Met tour in 1997. A few days before this season opened, he conducted a special free performance of the Verdi Requiem in memory of Luciano Pavarotti. At the season’s gala opening night, which was shown on The Met: Live in HD, Maestro Levine conducted Act II of Verdi’s La Traviata, with Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Thomas Hampson in leading roles. This season Levine is also conducting the revival of Mark Morris’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, which premiered last season, the Met’s 125th Anniversary Gala on March 15, and the final revival of the popular production by Otto Schenk of Wagner’s Ring cycle. He also returns to Carnegie Hall for the Met Orchestra’s widely admired annual series of three concerts. Last season, he led two new productions, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, which premiered on opening night, and Verdi’s Macbeth, as well as performances of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. All four operas were part of The Met: Live in HD series.

 
About the production team

Robert Lepage is an internationally renowned director, writer, and performer who is active in opera, theater, and film. In 1994, he founded Ex Machina, a multidisciplinary company that brings together creative artists—including contortionists and computer graphic designers—from every discipline and is known for using cutting-edge technology in every kind of storytelling. His best-known work includes the films Le Confessional (which he wrote and in which he starred) and The Far Side of the Moon, the plays Elsinore (a solo-performer Hamlet) and The Dragon's Trilogy, as well as KÀ, which he created for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas in 2005. Lepage's work in opera includes the 2005 world premiere of Lorin Maazel's opera 1984 at London's Royal Opera Covent Garden and, last year, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, a co-production of opera companies in Brussels, Lyon, San Francisco, Madrid, and London, which opened at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels.

Set designer Carl Fillion, a native of Quebec, began working with Lepage when he was in his 20s, after Lepage asked him to create the sets for his epic stage work The Seven Streams of the River Ota. Fillion has now collaborated with Lepage on more than a dozen productions, including La Damnation de Faust in Japan and Paris, 1984 at London's Royal Opera Covent Garden, and The Rake's Progress in Brussels. Fillion works in opera and theater throughout Canada and Europe, including Barcelona's Teatre Liceu and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.

Costume designer Karin Erskine, who works in theater, opera, and film, created the costumes for Lepage’s La Damnation de Faust in Japan and Paris. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her costumes in Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Flute and won a gold medal at the Prague Quadrennial in 2003 for her Elektra designs. Her costumes have been featured in, among others, a Swedish production of Don Carlos at Brooklyn’s Academy of Music and Strindberg’s A Dream Play in Stockholm with Robert Lepage.

Lighting designer Sonoyo Nishikawa has worked frequently with Robert Lepage on such productions as La Casa Azul and The Seven Streams of the River Ota. His work for opera, theater, dance, and concerts has been seen in Europe, Japan, and North America. His opera credits include designs for Lehár’s The Merry Widow for Opéra de Montréal, as well as Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Britten’s The Turn of the Screw for London’s Royal Opera Covent Garden.

Choreographer Alain Gauthier appeared in some 1,600 performances with Le Cirque du Soleil, for whom he was part of the acrobatic research movement team. He gradually moved to choreography, and not just for humans: he is best known for his work in the touring equestrian show Cavalia. Among his other credits are Ex Machina’s techno-cabaret Zulu Time, Lepage’s La Damnation de Faust in Paris, and Celebrity Circus on NBC.

Choreographer Johanne Madore has worked as a choreographer, director, and teacher in circus, opera, and film. She choreographed Lepage’s productions of La Damnation de Faust in Japan (in which she also appeared as a dancer) and in Paris and is remounting her piece Le Baisier for classical and modern dancers, some of them of reduced mobility. Madore is artistic adviser for the National Circus School of Montreal.

Video designer Boris Firquet has worked in live stage video—known as Vjing—since 1996 and creates most of his own custom software for festivals around the world. His initial work in opera was with Lepage in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress last year; he will collaborate with the director on Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Met, beginning in the 2010-2011 season.

Video designer Holger Forterer says that he uses mathematics and algorithms as his artistic language. He began developing interactive installations and scenery in 1998 and received accolades for his interactive projections for Lepage’s Cirque du Soleil show KÀ.

 Live Broadcasts to be seen and heard around the world

La Damnation de Faust is being seen and heard by millions of people around the world this season in movie theaters, on the radio, and via the internet, through distribution platforms the Met has established with various media partners. The November 22 matinee is the fourth performance of the season to be transmitted as part of The Met: Live in HD series. Barbara Willis Sweete is the director for the HD transmission which will be seen in over 800 movie theaters around the world.

In addition, the Saturday matinee performance on November 29 kicks off the 78th season of radio broadcasts from the Met, heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

The Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 is broadcasting the premiere on November 7, as well as performances on November 14, 18, 25, 29, and December 4.

The December 4 performance will also be available via RealNetworks internet streaming at the Met’s web site, www.metopera.org.

 
About the Met

Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory.  The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2008-09 season pays tribute to the company’s extraordinary history on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, while also emphasizing the Met’s renewed commitment to advancing the art form. The season features six new productions, 18 revivals, the final performances of Otto Schenk’s production of Wagner’s Ring cycle conducted by Levine, and two gala celebrations; the galas include the season-opening performance featuring Renée Fleming as well as a 125th anniversary celebration on March 15.  New productions include the company premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic as well as the Met’s first staged production of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust since 1906, Massenet’s Thaïs, Puccini’s La Rondine, Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and Bellini’s La Sonnambula.  Future seasons include new presentations of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles (2009-10) and Thomas Adès’s The Tempest (2011-12).

Building on its 77-year-old radio broadcast history – currently heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network – the Met now uses advanced media distribution platforms and state-of-the-art technology to attract new audiences and reach millions of opera fans around the world.

The Met: Live in HD series reached more than 935,000 people in the 2007-08 season, more than the number of people who saw performances in the opera house.  These performances began airing on PBS in March 2008, and eight of these HD performances are now available on DVD, on the EMI and Universal labels.  In the 2008-09 season, the HD series expands to feature 11 live transmissions, starting with the Met’s Opening Night Gala and spanning the entire season. The HD productions are seen this season in over 850 theaters in 28 countries around the world. Five new productions are featured, including the Met premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic. The Opening Night transmission was seen in the Americas only; the remaining ten high-definition productions are shown live worldwide on Saturdays through May 9 with encores scheduled at various times.

Live in HD in Schools, the Met’s new program offering free opera transmissions to New York City schools in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the Metropolitan Opera Guild, reached more than 7,000 public school students and teachers during the 2007-08 season. This season, Live in HD in Schools expands to reach schools in 18 cities and communities nationwide.

Continuing its innovative use of electronic media to reach a global audience, the Metropolitan Opera introduces Met Player, a new subscription service that will make its extensive video and audio catalog of full-length performances available to the public for the first time online, and in exceptional, state-of-the-art quality. Beginning on October 22, 2008, 120 historic audio recordings and 50 full-length opera videos will be available during the first month of the new service, including over a dozen of the company’s acclaimed The Met: Live in HD transmissions, known for their extraordinary sound and picture quality.  New content, including HD productions and archival broadcasts, will be added monthly.

Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 is a subscription-based audio entertainment service broadcasting both an unprecedented number of live performances each week throughout the Met’s entire season, as well as rare historical performances, newly restored and remastered, spanning the Met’s 77-year broadcast history.

In addition to providing audio recordings through the new Met on Rhapsody on-demand service, the Met also presents free live audio streaming of performances on its website once every week during the opera season with support from RealNetworks®.

The company’s groundbreaking commissioning program in partnership with New York’s Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), provides renowned composers and playwrights with the resources to create and develop new works at the Met and at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater.  The Met’s partnership with LCT is part of the company’s larger initiative to commission new operas from contemporary composers, present modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, and provide a venue for artists to nurture their work.

The Met has launched several audience development initiatives such as the company’s Open House Dress Rehearsals, which are free and open to the public; two are planned for the 2008-09 season with operas and dates to be announced.  Just prior to beginning the current season, the Met presented a free performance of the Verdi Requiem on September 18, in tribute to the late Luciano Pavarotti.  Other company initiatives include the Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met which exhibits contemporary visual art; the immensely successful Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Rush Ticket program which provides deeply discounted orchestra seats two hours before curtain time; and an annual Holiday Series presentation for families.  This season’s special Holiday Presentation is Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an abridged, English-language version of the opera which is given four special matinee performances and one holiday evening performance as a way for families to celebrate the holiday season.