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Ricarda Merbeth as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos. Photo: Julien Benhamou/Opéra National de Paris |
On the operatic front, after the production disasters of 2009, 2010 turned out to be a bumper year. From the perfectly acceptable Cunning Little Vixen (Janacek) and …
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Ricarda Merbeth as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos. Photo: Julien Benhamou/Opéra National de Paris |
On the operatic front, after the production disasters of 2009, 2010 turned out to be a bumper year. From the perfectly acceptable Cunning Little Vixen (Janacek) and Flying Dutchman (Wagner) to the sensational Billy Budd (Britten) and the (for me) unexpectedly affecting Il Trittico (Puccini), the Bastille opera house managed to maintain a consistently high standard throughout the year. At the end of the year, I appreciated the musical complexity and the colorful staging of Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, but found its unremitting seriousness somewhat trying. Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, which managed to be witty and poignant in equal measure, added a glorious cherry on top of the 2010 operatic cake.
As far as movies are concerned, 2010 was less of a vintage year, but I no longer feel quite as depressed about the state of French cinema as I have been in these columns over the last few years. I appreciate that I did not manage to see the much-lauded Des Hommes et des Dieux and missed the prolific François Ozon’s Potiche, which received favorable reviews. But I enjoyed Ozon’s earlier offering Le Refuge (starring a heavily pregnant Isabelle Carré) and found much to admire in Mathieu Amalric’s uneven Tournée, for which he won the best director prize at Cannes. The subtle central performances by Gérard Depardieu and Gisèle Casadesus in La Tête en Friche made up for the outrageously over-the-top acting by the secondary characters. Two wonderfully comic movies, La Reine des Pommes and Les Invités de Mon Père, brightened up March and May for me. It was good to see a faithful adaptation of Madame de Lafayette’s novella La Princesse de Montpensier by Bertrand Tavernier and encouraging to be introduced to the directing talents of the precocious Canadian Xavier Dolan (who is only 21) in Les Amours Imaginaires. The smash box-office hit of the year, L’Arnacoeur (Heartbreaker), starring Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis, may not have made many intellectual demands on the viewer but still managed to be comic and entertaining. As for the otherwise sparkling Le Nom des Gens, it was only its horrendous sexism that set my teeth on edge.
Art and restaurant reviews are the hallowed turf of other reviewers on this site, but let me just add that I greatly enjoyed the exhibition at the Opéra Garnier devoted to the great French soprano Régine Crespin, and I thoroughly concur with the thumbs up given to the restaurants Spring and Mini Palais. Roll on 2011 for another year of musical, cinematic and gustatory treats!
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