Serge Dorny, the Flemish general director of the Opéra de Lyon, launched his penultimate season (from 2020-21 he has headed the Bavarian State Opera Munich) with Rossini's 'grand opéra' Guillaume Tell (William Tell).

It is a grandiose yet demanding work that the ensembles of the Lyon opera (orchestra and choir) together with a select cast of singers brilliantly defended under the direction of Daniele Rustioni, the music director of the Lyon Opera. Rossini's rich score blossomed, colorful and dramatic from the famous overture with its lovely cello solo, through the swirling dances, the virtuosic vocal contributions and the dramatic moments culminating in that grandiose finale "Liberté, redescends des cieux et que ton règne recommence!" Whether that hope and expectation will become reality is apparently doubted by director Tobias Kratzer, as he lets Jemmy, Tell's young son, slip away from the domestic scene to don a hat that references the enemy. That enemy, in the original story, are the Austrian Habsburgs, represented by the tyrannical governor Gesler, who oppresses the Swiss people. In Tobias Kratzer's staging (set and costumes Rainer Sellmaier, lighting Reinhard Traub and choreography Demis Volpi) they are a brutal, destructive group in white overalls and black bowler hats immediately reminiscent of the gangsters from Stanley Kubrick's film "A Clockwork Orange." They appear for the first time during the overture and destroy the (fake) cello on stage: an empty space before a black and white panorama of the Alps.

Black

As the opera's plot unfolds, this panorama will gradually disappear completely under black paint. Black is also the color of the (contemporary) clothing of the Swiss people, which occasionally receives folkloristic touches. Jemmy, Tell's young son, plays the violin, Arnold's old father Melcthal waves a conductor's baton that will later be used by Gesler's henchmen to gouge out his eyes. When the representatives of the various Swiss cantons gather and swear an oath to defend and liberate their homeland, they line up as the instrument groups of an orchestra: the strings, the woodwinds, the brass...

The weapons the Swiss use are assembled from instrument parts. What all this is supposed to mean is unclear, sometimes comic, and even makes the Swiss uprising and their struggle for independence ridiculous. Or did Kratzer want to tell us that music is the most important element of the opera?

And fortunately music reigned supreme and there was the excellent ensemble that brilliantly defended Rossini and the Swiss and mostly ensured good projection of the French text.

Nicola Alaimo's lean baritone may not be ideal for the role of Tell, but his expressiveness and warm humanity make up for much. He gives the figure authority and knows how to sing Rossini. This applies perhaps even more to John Osborn, who has made the demanding role of Arnold his own for years and still performs it with brilliance and virtuosity with excellent diction. Jane Archibald, admittedly not well served by her costume, was a determined Mathilde who deployed her ample soprano with expertise but could inspire little sympathy for her character. Hedwige, Tell's wife, gained extra relief in Enkelejda Shkoza's performance with warm mezzo-soprano and considerable vibrato. Jean Teitgen delivered a contemptible Gesler with a cutting voice. Tomislav Lavoie was a venerable, sonorous Melcthal and Philippe Talbot a sweetly sung Ruodi. Jemmy, Tell's little son, was played in a particularly convincing manner by a young boy and simultaneously sung by Jennifer Courcier with fresh soprano. The choirs sang spiritedly and the three dancing couples not only had to move elegantly but also endure the torments devised by Gesler.

• WHAT: Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini
• WHO:

Direction Daniele Rustioni

Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra de Lyon

Staging Tobias Kratzer

Set and Costumes Rainer Sellmaier

Lighting Reinhard Traub, Choreography Demis Volpi

Voices: Nicola Alaimo, John Osborn, Jane Archibald, Enkelejda Shkoza, Jean Teitgen, Tomislav Lavoie, Philippe Talbot, Jennifer Courcier

• WHERE AND WHEN: Opéra de Lyon, October 2019
• VIDEO FOOTAGE: © Opéra de Lyon