Premiered in Paris in 1797, Cherubini’s Médée was originally presented with a French libretto, based on Euripides’ play from Greek antiquity. It’s this version that is currently onstage at Paris’s Opéra Comique (seen Feb. 8). The opera was tepidly received at its premiere and mostly forgotten for over a century, until Maria Callas revived it in the 1950s with an Italian libretto conceived especially for her. The original French version is in the style of Gluck, the great reformer who believed opera should be a perfect blending of music and text. It is also an opéra comique in which spoken dialogue alternates with singing. Therein lies the major flaw of the French version.
Director Marie-Ève Signeyrole opted to use video projections of Médée’s children narrating some of the events, thus giving life to these silent characters. In the spoken dialogues that were maintained, she avoided using déclamation, as in classical French theatre. Both changes are appropriate for a contemporary audience.
Signeyrole injects the opera with readings of texts by an inmate serving time for infanticide—Medée’s crime. Throughout the staging, readings by the condemned inmate are inserted between scenes. When the opera proper starts, the action is transposed to late 1960s Greece, when it was ruled by a military junta (1967-1974).
Lila Dufy (Dircé), Julien Behr (Jason), and accentus choir. Photo: DR Stefan Brion
In Greek mythology, Médée is a princess from Colchis (present day Georgia, in the Caucus) who gives up homeland, family and rank to help Jason snatch the Golden Fleece. As a result, she finds herself dispossessed of her husband, children and family home. The ambitious Jason wants to marry Dircé, King Créon’s daughter, to advance his position. General Créon is the top dog in Greece’s military dictatorship. Jason justifies breaking his marriage vows to Médée due to her foreigner status and evil deeds (though they were done to help him snatch the Golden Fleece). Indeed, Médée’s status as “outsider” is her heaviest burden and is pivotal in this staging.
French coloratura soprano Lila Dufy, who earned a master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Université de Montréal, portrays Dircé as an insecure young woman, probably aware that her father’s status is her greatest asset. In the French Médée, the title role is more suited to a lyric soprano, not a spinto or dramatic one, as in the Italian version. It would therefore have been preferable had Dircé been cast with a lighter, more ethereal soprano, to contrast with Médée’s lyric one. Nevertheless, Dufy’s opening aria, “Hymen! Viens dissiper une vaine frayeur” was moving, evoking both fragility and apprehension.
French lyric tenor Julien Behr ably incarnated the perfidious Jason, “heroic” yet pathetic. This anti-hero is a weakling and a bully. Director Signeyrole made him a truly odious character, slapping Médée and his own children, and flirting with Dircé’s friends at his own wedding. Endowed with good looks and charisma, Behr certainly possesses le physique du rôle. His excellent diction and appealing tenor made his Act I aria “Eloigné pour jamais d’une épouse cruelle” a truly memorable moment.
Joyce El-Khoury (Médée) and Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Créon). Photo: DR Stefan Brion
Anglo-French bass Edwin Crossley-Mercer was an ideal Créon. Endowed with a suave basso cantante, he had the right timbre for this typically Gluckian role. His Act I aria, “C’est à vous de trembler, femme impie et barbare,” was well delivered, verbally threatening, but ineffectively so. To ascertain his hollow authority and weak character, director Signeyrole chose for him to suffer a non-fatal heart attack at the end of his aria, an ingenious gimmick.
French mezzo Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur was a charismatic Néris, Médée’s nurse and confidant. In this staging, she was more a loving sister and accomplice. She’s aware of the consequences of the poisoned floral crown she directs one of Médée’s children to deliver to Dircé. She’s even aware of the likelihood of Médée killing her own children, and yet she acquiesces. Her Act II recitative and aria, “Malheureuse Princesse!… Ah! Nos peines seront communes!,” was a high point of the evening, thanks to Bouchard-Lesieur’s warm timbre, exceptional diction and true mastery of the French style.
Lebanese-Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury incarnated an unusual Médée. One is conditioned to think of the role as a fierce tigress, given Callas’s enduring imprimatur. El-Khoury’s Médée was both a vocal and dramatic triumph. Her Médée is severely wronged by a perfidious Jason and by a xenophobic society. She’s well aware of her weak position and inability to win. Yet she continues to fight, despite the inevitably tragic result.
Joyce El-Khoury (Médée). Photo: DR Stefan Brion
Signeyrole chose to draw parallels between the Ancient Greek myth of Medea and two important contemporary issues: patriarchy and xenophobia. Why does a normally loving mother resort to such desperate measures? Is it mere narcissism on her behalf, or is she so defenceless that she resorts to the only weapon she possesses? Signeyrole‘s clearly feminist tilt favours the latter, more sympathetic view.
The other issue raised in this staging is xenophobia. Médée’s gravest sin is not being Greek. From her first appearance, El-Khoury’s magnetic stage presence was further enhanced by her wearing an elegant Middle Eastern kaftan rather than the 1970s dresses sported by the Greek women surrounding her. Instead of denying her identity to assimilate into a society that rejects her, this Médée takes pride in her heritage. In one instance, as Médée contemplates her crime while serving breakfast to her children, the orchestra comes to a halt, and El-Khoury sings an Algerian lullaby in Arabic. This had a haunting effect and affirmed Médée’s identity.
In one scene, Créon and his officers break into a church where Médée, Néris and other foreign women have sought refuge. They taunt, rob, abuse and even rape several of the women. They beat up the Orthodox priest while defacing relics and holy books. Signeyrole draws parallels with the sans papiers (undocumented illegal aliens) in present-day France and much of Europe. Needless to say, this did not garner the widespread approval of the audience.
Caroline Frossard (comédienne) and Joyce El-Khoury (Médée). Photo: DR Stefan Brion
El-Khoury used her beautiful lyric soprano to convey a complex Médée. She is attractive and feminine, yet regal and strong-willed. The unappreciative Jason discards her like old clothing. This Médée is no older wife losing her husband to a prettier younger woman. She is wronged and betrayed by a selfish, ungrateful and ambitious spouse. Her Act I aria, “Vous voyez de vos fils la mère infortunée,” was completely convincing. She pleaded vehemently but she did not convey despair as did past Médées. In contrast, her Act II aria, “O détestable hymen! O fureur! O vengeance!,” was terrifying without being excessive, a common flaw that can betray lesser sopranos.
El-Khoury’s diction was impeccable, at least equal or superior to other cast members. This is crucial in this Gluckian role, where music and lyrics must be fused. The proper emphasis on key words in critical moments is essential to conveying drama. Even more impressive was El-Khoury’s delivery of the spoken text. One could have mistaken her for a French stage actress. Importantly, her acting was natural, never stylized. El-Khoury and the cast used a contemporary delivery style to better suit the director’s intentions.
Joyce El-Khoury (Médée), Julien Behr (Jason), and accentus choir. Photo: DR Stefan Brion
In Euripides’s play, Medea flies away in a fiery chariot provided by her grandfather, the sun god Helios. In the present production, Médée is confronted by a rabid mob. She remains defiant and the crowd retreats.
The Insula orchestra under the direction of Laurence Equilbey played stylishly yet were faithful to Cherubini’s lineage: midway between Gluck and Berlioz. Equilbey’s energetic tempi in the powerful overture ensured intense drama. She effortlessly navigated tempi to the singers’ requirements, especially Médée at her most dramatic. However, one longed for a larger orchestra to accentuate such an intense drama.
Performed by Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company last season in its Italian version, Médée is gaining popularity. Until a decade ago, it was an absolute rarity. Now it’s produced with some frequency, mostly in Italian. Paris’s Opéra Comique, Teatro alla Scala, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Moscow’s Stanislavski, Warsaw’s Teatr Wiekli and New York’s Metropolitan are among the venues that have recently produced Cherubini’s most famous opera. In some cases (notably the Italian version), they provide a vehicle for sopranos with their sights on Callas’s throne. While few of these prima donnas will reach such lofty heights, this musically and dramatically powerful work is finally gaining much-deserved attention.
Opéra Comique’s production of Médée continues its run through Feb. 16. www.opera-comique.com/en
