François Girard returns from Moscow, where he premiered at the iconic Bolshoi Theater his new production of Lohengrin, staged jointly with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, which will present Wagner’s opera in a year. The first took place on Thursday, February 24, the day of the invasion of Ukraine. Narrative on opera in times of war.
“A few minutes before the premiere, Anna Nechaïeva, who sings the role of Elsa, Lohengrin’s fiancée, falls into my arms in tears because her mother and sister are in Ukraine and she is trembling with worry. Same thing in the orchestra; same thing in the choir: there were Ukrainians among us,” says François Girard.
Aware of an “energy that gave meaning to the show”, the Quebec director, present for two months in Moscow, will never forget this evening of the first presentation of Lohengrin, followed by 15 minutes of ovations. “Art is an antidote to war, even a few hundred meters from the Kremlin. In this place, the gesture of opera which brought together fifteen nationalities was a gesture of peace, while, the same day, we learned that politicians were making diametrically opposed gestures. The audience was aware of this and the evening was very emotionally charged. »
Hidden danger
“I have lived well informed: the lily The duty and the New York Times. I continued to do this for two months there and to inform myself also in Russia. When we approached the first I had no more time. I learned of the invasion, running left and right in my decor, by the singers who were arriving”.
During the two months there, the Ukrainian question was certainly present. “We talked about it with the artists, with the management of the Bolshoi. But they, like us, like the whole world, we thought it was a bluff. None of my Russian friends believed that an invasion would take place. “So, when it happens, “everyone is sawed and, from there, we manage the contradictory emotions”.
One of the elements that led to disbelief is, according to François Girard, that “the border between Ukraine and Russia is an abstract thing”. “These are linked cultures, with families on both sides of the border, friends, lovers. This invasion is all the more dramatic as they are brother peoples. It is a fratricidal war. »
“Among the intellectuals I frequent I found no one to support this action,” adds the director.
Moreover, in the process of developing the show, the Ukrainian question was very marginal: “Our problem over the past two months was not the invasion of Ukraine, since we didn’t believe in it; it was COVID. We had significant contamination in the choir. We met the director of the Bolshoi, Vladimir Ourin, every week to decide on the organization of the rehearsals for the protection of each other. And Mr. Ourin reports directly to Vladimir Putin. »
Vladimir Ourin was, on Saturday, one of the 17 important actors of the Russian cultural scene who signed a letter concluding in these terms: “We call on all those on whom it depends, all the parties to the conflict, to cease the action army and sit down at the negotiating table. We call for the preservation of the highest value — human life.” It should be noted that neither Valery Gergiev nor Denis Matsouïev, who like Mr. Ourin were signatories in 2014 of a letter supporting President Putin’s policy in Ukraine as well as the annexation of Crimea, signed Saturday’s text, considered as an “important political gesture” by François Girard.Have
Carry on anyway
“It’s a rolling fire, as if I was still there. The phone hasn’t rung since 4 a.m. this morning,” says François Girard, who obviously hasn’t really come back from Moscow.
If the show holds, it is because it is based on a double distribution. “Unlike the Met, where we set up sets that we remove, at the Bolshoi, a 250-year-old theater, there is no space to rotate. The decor therefore remains in place, we play almost every day and we hire 2 distributions. »
“There are already four defections (we only have one Ortrud, one Elsa and one in three Telramund left): people who go home because they are afraid for all kinds of reasons. »
The future of the show itself risks having to be rebuilt. “The Metropolitan Opera has just declared that the bridges with the Bolshoi are cut and that projects with Russian artists are on ice. “While the movement of goods and people are in the hot seat, François Girard has mourned seeing the sets and costumes travel to New York. “We are already reinventing a work plan. It’s a hassle, but it’s nothing compared to what the Ukrainians live. »
Lohengrinwhich was presented at the Bolshoi for the first time since 1936, has strong symbolism, as the setting is forged around one of the very few real historical figures in Wagner’s work, Henri 1er of Germania (known as “Heinrich der Vogler”) expansionist conqueror, precursor, in the Xand century of a “Greater Germania” and, as such, an idol of Adolf Hitler.
“Heinrich, unifier of Germany, is an inspiration of Wagner, but you have to put everything into context. Wagner is a rebel who does not celebrate German grandeur. He is ostracized, he is an anti-Prussian who wishes to reunite his culture. All the links we can make a posteriori including that of the coincidence with the invasion of Ukraine is of the order of the combination of circumstances”, considers François Girard.
Girard contextualized his show “into a hazy future” so that “the work cannot be seen as a celebration of a nationalist past”. He also wants it in the continuity of his Parsifal : “In the legend, Lohengrin being the son of Parsifal we had the opportunity to link them. Parsifal takes place in the magical world as Lohengrin takes place in a real world with its share of the supernatural. The common aesthetic between the two will make it possible to represent them together one day. We discuss it at the Met, we discuss it at the Bolshoi. The Bolshoi discussions risk being put on ice for quite a while! »