Opera criticism | Successful bet for The Man Who Laughs

Is there room for another lyrical organization in Montreal? The creation of the opera The man who Laughs – adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo – by Airat Ichmouratov on Wednesday evening at the Salle Claude-Champagne unequivocally brings a positive response.

One could take Marc Boucher for a dreamer. The director of the Nouvel Opéra Métropolitain, the new lyrical division of the Festival Classica, located in Montérégie, has however shown over the years that he is capable of fulfilling his mission.

Presenting three unknown operas – including two premieres – in two weeks is obviously a challenge. But Boucher plays it safe first. No staging, therefore no costumes (except for the brief operetta The adorable Belboul of Massenet, next Tuesday). Opera in a “thin” formula, but not a rickety thinness, because we still have a large orchestra on stage, a 20-voice choir (in the side balconies) and a visual dressing that balances nothing everything (a simple opera concert version) and real sets.

Important element (it is not stressed often enough), we are in the presence of a real booklet. Not a poetic-aesthetic thing. Real characters in flesh and blood, as Hugo has the secret. But the poet and novelist Bertrand Laverdure still had to condense it all and give it a scenic meaning, which is quite a feat. How many have achieved the same thing with great novels of the same type?

Someone also needed to put those words to music. A prolific Montreal composer, Airat Ichmouratov is no newcomer. His fourth disc on the British Chandos label, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, will be released in two weeks.

How to describe in a few words a new work lasting around 150 minutes? It must first be emphasized that Ichmouratov is in no way an experimental composer. He creates in the tonal system such as one finds it in Puccini and Prokofiev, that is to say a frank tone using dissonance wisely, without shocking the ear too much.

Original skins

Musically, perhaps the most interesting moments are when the orchestra speaks alone. It must be said that the composer, a seasoned conductor, knows this beast. Vocally, we are in a great lyricism which leaves a lot of room for the voice to flourish, without the orchestra taking over the singers.

There are, on occasion, a few effects that some could qualify as “easy”, “Hollywood” – one thinks of the air of Fibi (sung by soprano Sophie Naubert), of a comforting lyricism. But Ichmouratov is distinguished by the art of creating climates. We are less in the Wagnerian “durchkomponiert” (a work in one piece with a kind of continuous song) than in the great tradition of the opera with numbers, as we still find it in a certain way in the XX^e century in a Puccini, for example.

The composer creates an original dressing for each number (mainly arias, with some duets and larger ensembles). Each arrival of Lord David (sung by tenor Antonio Figueroa) underlines his show-off side, the orchestra bursting into sarcasm.

In short, a show applauded by the public

Only downside to the scenic experience: the absence of surtitles. Even if there is nothing wrong with the diction of the singers, the higher voices are naturally more difficult to understand. It was therefore necessary to know the story well to fully appreciate the evening.

Everything could have been integrated into the projections created by Lumifest on the run. These alternate between less than a dozen winter scenes marked by loneliness (the human being is absent) and decay (misery is a central theme of the novel). Semi-static paintings (we only see the snow falling or the light flickering), but which still allow you to immerse yourself inexpensively in each scene.

The eight singers, most of whom were part of the recording of the complete Massenet melodies overseen by Marc Boucher, were well matched.

One thinks of the three baritones, the one (almost too) athletic, by Jean-François Lapointe (Barkilphedro), soft by Hugo Laporte (adult Gwynplaine) and clearer, more “French”, by Marc Boucher (Ursus).

Same with women. The ear never confuses the three light sopranos Magali Simard-Galdès (Dea), Sophie Naubert (Fibi) and Janelle Lucyk (Gwynplaine enfant). The first voice is rounder, more fruity than Naubert’s, more on “metal”, while Lucyk, from the choir, sings in a white voice.

Mezzo-soprano Florence Bourget (Duchesse Josiane) and tenor Antonio Figueroa (Lord David) complete the cast of this show, which was greatly applauded by the public, which almost filled the Salle Claude-Champagne.

We can only hope that this is not the only representation of the work, a fate too often reserved for contemporary creation…