International Herald Tribune
19.04.2003

A Massenet is born again
by David Stevens

SAINT ETIENNE, France
Jules Massenet was a prolific composer of operas, many of which have a solid place in the repertory, which means that this City - his birthplace - has a substantial roster to choose from for its biennial festifal devoted mainly to the composer.

For this year's Massenet Festival, the seventh, the operatic choice was "Sapho", one of the composer's extensive gallery of feminine portralts. Based on a largely autobiographicat novel by Alphonse Daudet, it tells the story of Jean Gaussin, Aa Provencal youth installed in Paris who falls for Fanny Legrand a.k.a. Sapho, an artist's model with a highly checkered past. When Jean is finally enlightened about Fann's past he flees to Provence, then returns. Finally, it is Fanny who realizes that this is a doomed affair and while Jean sIeeps she writes a farewell letter and leaves.

"Sapho" is no longer one of Massenet,s frequently performed works, if it ever was, but it has its fair share of the composer's fluid lyricism and dramatic sensibility. And it certainly started out under promising auspices, with the celebrated Emma Calvé singing the title role in the world premiere at the Opéra Comique In Paris in 1897 and Mary Garden introducing it to New York a dozen years later.

For this production at the hilltop Esplanade theater here, the home team gave an attractively convincing account of the work. Alexandre Heyraud's single set was a glas-enclosed artist's atelier, giving the outer landscape a major role - in tones van Gogh would have recognized - even though all the action was inside. Jean-Louis Pichon's stagiing was straightforward, and Frédéric Pinault's costumes took advantage of end-of-the-century high fashion for Fanny's gowns.

Danielle Streiff brought a radiant vocal strength and dramatic flamboyance to the saprano title part, while Luca Lombardo sang smoothly in the somewhat thankless tenor role of Jean, although he worked up a good head of histrionic steam in the scene in which he discovered Fanny's incriminating letters.

Florence Vinit was an oppealing Irène, the nice girl wbo fails to distract Jean from his obsession with Fanny, and Patrick Vilet was stentorian at the sculptor Caoudal, on of Fanny's old boyfriends. Laurent Campellone on the Podium got solid playing from the orchestra.

Under the title of "Les Demoiselles de..." the saprano Sophie Marin-Degor and the mezze Claire Brua have formed a duo, in collaboration with the pianist Serge Cyfersteln, and built up a repertory of semi-staged duets for their two voices, interspersed with the occasional solo.

In Saint Etienne's Grand'Eglise they performed one of their programs - "Jules, Camille, Gabriel et les autres..." - duos from the catalogues of Massenet, Saint-Saëns and Fauré. Their repertory, which they have been working on for the last six years, extends to Rossini and Donizetti Gounod and Lalo and includes many little-known delights.

Among them on this occasion were *Fauré's lively "Tarantelle" and "Le Ruisseau," Saint-Saëns's. exercise in Hispanic song, "El Desdichado," and Massenet's "Rêvons, c'est l'heure" and "*Salut Printemps." It made for a charming program of vocal music well off the beaten track and delivered with elegance and wit.
International Herald Tribune