Following in the wake of Frederick Wiseman’s documentary on the Paris Opera Ballet, La Danse (VL-3/11), Jean-Stéphane Bron offers a similarly fly-on-the-wall treatment of the opera company as a whole, concentrating on the 2015-16 season, when Stéphane Lissner assumed the directorship. Much of the film is devoted to rehearsal footage, most notably of an ambitious production of Arnold Schoenberg’s difficult and rarely performed Moses und Aron, which features a cameo by a huge live bull that had to be maneuvered on and off the stage. But while the ballet dancers do not receive as much attention as the opera singers and staff, a controversy regarding the tenure of choreographer Benjamin Millepied is touched on. A substantial amount of the film is also about the practical details of operating such an enormous enterprise--one hobbled by budgetary and staff cuts and strike threats, all of which Lissner and his staff must confront while also debating how best to show the company’s sympathy with the victims of terrorist attacks. Bron also personalizes the film with a segment featuring Ursula Naccache, who subsidizes a teaching program for school-age instrumentalists, and periodic episodes showcasing Mikhail Timoshenko, a Russian singer accepted into the opera’s apprenticeship program, who we follow as he is fitted by company costumers, meets one of his idols (bass-baritone Bryn Terfel), and falls into a funk after performing poorly (in his estimation) in a recital, although he recoups with a more satisfying solo later. Extras include audio commentary by (and an interview with) Bron, and a short modern dance piece performed to music by baroque master Jean-Philippe Rameau. Sure to appeal to opera lovers, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
The Paris Opera
(2018) 111 min. In French w/English subtitles. DVD: $24.95. Film Movement (avail. from most distributors). Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 3
The Paris Opera
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