Following a sold-out world premiere engagement in Toronto and standing ovations at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Opéra de Lyon, Robert Lepage’s critically acclaimed The Nightingale and Other Short Fables makes its anticipated US premiere at BAM.
Under the direction of Robert Lepage, the opera is transformed into a magical chinoiserie centered around a moonlit lake—created by filling the orchestra pit with nearly 12,000 gallons of water. The musicians and chorus are placed onstage, allowing the audience to see and hear the various musical layers that make this production so entrancing. Traditional pan-Asian water puppets, created by Tony and Emmy award-winning designer Michael Curry, float and are manipulated by the same singers whose roles they represent, telling the tale of the ethereal nightingale who persuades Death to spare the Emperor.
An audio recording of the full production is available on our website.
Critical Acclaim:
". . . Lepage’s production is a masterpiece! . . . Through brilliant use of scale, the designers created the illusion that the small Bunraku puppets were normal-sized, so the semi-submerged singers . . . seemed like giant, guardian spirits for their puppet-characters."
Tamara Bernstein, Globe and Mail
"What could have been a mere gimmick instead is rendered an organic part of the storytelling, with splendid costumes by Mara Gottler, shimmering lighting by Etienne Boucher and elegantly minimalist settings by Carl Fillion all providing the perfect frame for Michael Curry’s superbly detailed puppets."
Richard Ouzounian, Variety
“This alchemy transmutes some children’s tales about animals into an unusually integrated and spellbinding piece of theater.”
Heidi Waleson, Wall Street Journal
More Critical Acclaim
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Jonathan Darlington (centre) conducts a scene from The Fox in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Jonathan Darlington (left) conducts a scene from The Fox in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Olga Peretyatko as The Nightingale and Ilya Bannik as The Emperor in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Michael Uloth as The Bonze, Robert Pomakov as The Chamberlain and Laura Albino as The Cook in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Ilya Bannik as The Emperor and Maria Radner as Death in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Lothar Odinius (in water) as The Fisherman in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Adam Luther as Japanese Envoy 1, Alexander Hajek as Japanese Envoy 3, Robert Pomakov (behind Hajek) as The Chamberlain, Olga Peretyatko as The Nightingale, Neil Craighead as Japanese Envoy 2 and Ilya Bannik as The Emperor in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Michael Uloth as The Bonze, Robert Pomakov as The Chamberlain and Laura Albino as The Cook (in water) and Olga Peretyatko (above, right) as The Nightingale in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Lothar Odinius as Tenor 2, Adam Luther as Tenor 1 and Peter Barrett as Baritone 1 in a scene from The Fox in the COC production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Dougall
Video
The Canadian Opera Company has been invited to New York City to present its 2009 production of Robert Lepage's The Nightingale & Other Short Fables at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Opera Festival, March 1 to 6, 2011.
View on YouTube.
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Production designer Michael Curry demonstrates the puppets he built for the world premiere of Robert Lepage's The Nightingale & Other Short Fables, on stage at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from Oct. 17 to Nov. 5, 2009.
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Visionary director Robert Lepage speaks on what inspired him to create The Nightingale & Other Short Fables, a collection of works by composer Igor Stravinsky.
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Visionary director Robert Lepage speaks on the journey he went through while creating the concept for The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
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Director Robert Lepage talks about Igor Stravinsky, whose works are featured in his production of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
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Director Robert Lepage discusses how producing an opera is different than producing a theatre piece.
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Director Robert Lepage discusses repositioning the orchestra for his production of Stravinsky's The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
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Director Robert Lepage discusses the role of puppetry in his production of Stravinsky's The Nightingale & Other Short Fables.
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Posted by Cecily Carver / in The Nightingale and Other Short Fables / comments (0) / permalink