07.07.2017
Éric Vigié on creating a powerful Rosina character
The opera season at the Mikhailovsky Theatre concluded with a performance of Mozart. The Marriage of Figaro. At the Mikhailovsky opera, however, any idea of a holiday is but a dream: hardly had the applause died down than the company set about rehearsing Il barbiere di Siviglia. Director Éric Vigié has presented the artists with his concept for a new and original production, which will open the theatre’s 185th season.
„I love Il barbiere di Siviglia because it always has a wonderful atmosphere on stage, and a lively rhythm with Rossini’s music, without pauses or any relaxation or time out,“ says Vigié. „I find it particularly exciting to work on this production now, when the company has just mastered such an unusual Marriage of Figaro. Both are based on plays by Pierre Beaumarchais; there is a strong link between the two, but in our interpretation of the story, we switch the focusing from Figaro to Rosina. Figaro is, indisputably, the main character in this opera, as in all the plays in Beaumarchais’ trilogy, but he will not be the one to bring the opera to an end, or to begin it. I even joke that the future production will be called ‘Rosina of Seville’. We will spend the first week of rehearsals on the first act, and work through the second during the week after. Then we will look in depth at the details, because there will be a lot of action and twists in this production.
„Seville is a special town. I lived in Spain for many years, so I know this from personal experience. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it was one of the richest cities in Europe. All the wealths brought over from South America arrived at its port. Seville, to Beaumarchais, was pretty much what Naples was to Mozart. Think of his opera Così fan tutte, and you’ll recall that everyone in it is slightly crazy. It’s just that in Naples the Vesuvius, major natural hazard, gives to live an other sense.While in Seville it’s the heat. It’s so hot there that some people begin to experience pretty intense mood swings [laughs]! I’ve asked the opera company to forget that they are Russian for two months: “ Whatever the weather, starting from Monday, they’re Spaniards „. Not many of the soloists have visited Seville, so I’ve advised them all to try to soak up the culture of this city, at least through the internet. There are aspects of the local style of life which you can’t study or understand through the web. For example, a lot of young women in Spain (and in other countries) today dream of marrying a football player, a torero, or an aristocrat, and enjoying life until the end of their days“.
„In the spirit of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies and his famous women characters, we will create this Rosina’s central feminine image. For that reason, we will work every detail of her characters’ costumes, and her complexe relationship with the other characters of the opera. There will be many fancy details. The main idea is to underpin Il barbiere di Siviglia as the love story between Rosina and the Count Almaviva, with the brilliant help of Figaro, of course, but also to assist in the transformation of the heroine of the story into a real „Spanish Diva““.
„I love Il barbiere di Siviglia because it always has a wonderful atmosphere on stage, and a lively rhythm with Rossini’s music, without pauses or any relaxation or time out,“ says Vigié. „I find it particularly exciting to work on this production now, when the company has just mastered such an unusual Marriage of Figaro. Both are based on plays by Pierre Beaumarchais; there is a strong link between the two, but in our interpretation of the story, we switch the focusing from Figaro to Rosina. Figaro is, indisputably, the main character in this opera, as in all the plays in Beaumarchais’ trilogy, but he will not be the one to bring the opera to an end, or to begin it. I even joke that the future production will be called ‘Rosina of Seville’. We will spend the first week of rehearsals on the first act, and work through the second during the week after. Then we will look in depth at the details, because there will be a lot of action and twists in this production.
„Seville is a special town. I lived in Spain for many years, so I know this from personal experience. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it was one of the richest cities in Europe. All the wealths brought over from South America arrived at its port. Seville, to Beaumarchais, was pretty much what Naples was to Mozart. Think of his opera Così fan tutte, and you’ll recall that everyone in it is slightly crazy. It’s just that in Naples the Vesuvius, major natural hazard, gives to live an other sense.While in Seville it’s the heat. It’s so hot there that some people begin to experience pretty intense mood swings [laughs]! I’ve asked the opera company to forget that they are Russian for two months: “ Whatever the weather, starting from Monday, they’re Spaniards „. Not many of the soloists have visited Seville, so I’ve advised them all to try to soak up the culture of this city, at least through the internet. There are aspects of the local style of life which you can’t study or understand through the web. For example, a lot of young women in Spain (and in other countries) today dream of marrying a football player, a torero, or an aristocrat, and enjoying life until the end of their days“.
„In the spirit of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies and his famous women characters, we will create this Rosina’s central feminine image. For that reason, we will work every detail of her characters’ costumes, and her complexe relationship with the other characters of the opera. There will be many fancy details. The main idea is to underpin Il barbiere di Siviglia as the love story between Rosina and the Count Almaviva, with the brilliant help of Figaro, of course, but also to assist in the transformation of the heroine of the story into a real „Spanish Diva““.
