A short excursion into history:
The
Opéra-Ballet was developed at the end the 17th century in
France from
- the Ballet
de Cour, a genre in which dance, pantomime, music and lyric and
dramatic poetry are combined. It was presented by the court society
- also by the king - as only a few musicians were professionals.
(From the Ballet de Cour developed later on the classical ballet);
- there was
also the Comédie-Ballet, a dramatic genre, in which the
classical French Comedy was embellished by special musical sequences
and divertissements.
- the Divertissement,
which developed from the Ballet de Cour and from the Airs and
recitatives which are sung. It also contained ensembles and chorus
sequences without a structured plot.
As a rule, the
Opéra-Ballet included a prologue and three or four acts,
in each of which a divertissement was embedded the contents of which
were only loosely connected with the main plot. The protagonists
were not derived from mythology, but they were flesh and blood human
beings, situated in contemporary settings. Thus, the Opéra-Ballet
soon became a mirror of the current social-cultural circumstances,
containing very often elements of comedy.
Don Quchotte chez la Duchesse
is a later example of the Opéra-Ballet. Joseph Bodin de Boismortier,
a contemporary of Jean-Philippe Rameau, was born in 1689 in Thionville,
but settled down in Paris, where he published his own compositions
from 1724. His remarkable productivity and his ability to commercialise
his works - above all his sizeable oeuvre of performing music -
earned him great fortune and unfortunately the reputation of being
a lightweight composer.
"Don Quichotte"
is cleverly constructed, ambiguous and in its conciseness almost
absurd, having a plot derived from some chapters of the novel of
Miguel Cervantes.
It tells of
a journey through an artificial world, in which nothing is how it
seems. Everything is a stage setting. And the fun that the Duchess
and her courtiers are having with the two "heroes" at
times transgresses the borders of cynicism. The whole opera is concise
in its form, extremely diversified, bluntly humorous and possesses
a finely chiselled character portrayal of the figures.
Press Reviews
"....Béatrice Jaccard
and Peter Schelling have resolved their task beautifully with an
inexhaustible fantasy, and they convey, what is probably essential
for this kind of presentation, great enjoyment in what they are
doing....Sometimes one really does not know where to look and what
to listen to because of the overabundance they present...this production
provokes sheer astonishment."
Tages-Anzeiger,
Zurich, 22nd May 2001
"...At the end Don Quijote and Sancho Panza fly off through
the universe toward an unknown destination - which is not the only
spectacular scene of this production to create illusion with amazingly
simple means. The production duo Béatrice Jaccard and Peter
Schelling, with their background in ballet, integrate dance sequences,
be they pas de deux, ensembles or pantomime so perfectly into the
burlesque, farcical plot structure that they combine with the play
almost as the music combines to create an inseparable whole....
Neue
Zürcher Zeitung, 21st May 2001
"...Opéra-Ballet becomes Opera-Comic....The opening
night has given proof that this baroque speciality is by no means
only for specialists. Quite on the contrary. This production from
Béatrice Jaccard and Peter Schelling....demonstrates that
theatre has very often toyed with what today calls virtual reality
and multimedia. And this produces.....just great fun. Theatre techniques
are realised with a surrealistic metamorphosis that could directly
originate from the baroque theatre....back to basics - the same
applies also to the lively stage direction of the actors as well
as to the performance of the dancers who are seamlessly integrated
into the action....a simple, yet ingeniously realised inspiration
of image and plot. "
Neue
Luzerner Zeitung, 21st May 2001
"...Everything that goes on is virtual - a singular parody
with a tendency towards absurdity which does not exclude poetic
moments. A direction that the Lucerne production team Béatrice
Jaccard/Peter Schelling like to follow. Actually, they are choreographers
and therefore...the right people in the right place. ...
What is called for is fantasy in dance expression rather { au{ticity
of style: from baroque affectedness of gestures to modern pantomime
and at times even a wink at the classical style...."
St. Galler
Tagblatt, 21st May 2001
"Béatrice Jaccard and Peter Schelling ... set the scene
for their action with the help of their set and costume designer
Regina Gappmayr and with accuracy and imagination. They are in full
command and toy with "the theatre within the theatre",
are showing how effects are achieved and creating thereby a modern,
clownlike magic. Choir and soloists are securely guided and placed.
And with their own compagnie drift , reinforced by their multitalented
Russian colleagues, they set the major accents for the scene and
pantomime..."
Der Landbote,
Zurich, 22nd May 2001
