REHEARSAL IMPRESSIONS: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Thursday, 10 June 2021, 10 p.m. — The sun has just set behind the imposing outline of Montagne Sainte-Victoire, and rehearsals for Le nozze di Figaro have started back up for a night session in the courtyard of the Palais de l’Archevêché. Watching a rehearsal in this open-air theatre always evokes intense emotion: the magic of this space, so often celebrated, seems to work every time.
Amidst the tiers of the parterre, sound and lighting desks have been set up for the stage director’s team and for the crew in charge of lighting effects. Stage right— or à jardin, as they say in French— the young artists of the Chœur du Conservatoire de Marseille wait patiently to be called to the wings and then on stage. In the orchestra pit, the conductor’s assistant is discussing with the vocal coach–pianist, who, thanks to his fortepiano, has been handling the musical side of rehearsals since 14 May; the musicians of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble will not arrive in Provence until 20 June, for the last phase of work before the performances. On stage, Lotte de Beer stands among the singers and extras. With all the energy and good humour for which she is known, the young Dutch stage director bounds from one corner of the stage to the other to see to a few details with the performers before a “run-through” of Act III: barring any unforeseen circumstances, the scenes will succeed without interruption, the performances won’t be stopped, and corrections will be the subject of a notes-session at the end of the rehearsal. The goal is to verify the transitions and get as close as possible to the real-life conditions of the public performances.

Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Thursday, 10 June 2021, 10:30 p.m. — Lotte de Beer has left the stage and is now sitting in the middle of the parterre with her assistant, who follows her like a shadow. The performers take their place on the nearly bare stage, adorned simply by a large bed imprisoned in a glass cage. Some have donned their rehearsal costumes: Gyula Orendt (Count Almaviva) is in a grey suit; Julie Fuchs (Susanna) is wearing an apron; and Jacquelyn Wagner (Countess Almaviva) has on a long dress. The real costumes are still being altered and adjusted in the Festival workshops at Venelles; they should be ready for the “piano dress rehearsal” scheduled for next week.
The venue falls silent as the first chords can be heard of the Count’s recitative that opens Act III. In Lotte de Beer’s staging, this third act must reveal to the audience the Countess’s point of view of the attempts at adultery her husband commits before her very eyes. It’s also the act of the double marriage Figaro–Susanna and Bartolo– Marcellina, one of the climaxes of the plot, celebrated here by the onstage arrival of several mobile elements displaying fluorescent words that are laid out to form the key sentence of this act.

Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Thursday, 10 June 2021, 11:20 p.m. — The run-through comes to an end with a reprise of “Amanti costanti” (“Constant Lovers”) by the chorus. The service lights come back on in the courtyard of the Archevêché. Lotte de Beer joins her performers at the service door to discuss corrections while the rehearsal is still fresh. Gradually, the venue empties as singers and extras go home. But that does not mean that rehearsal is finished for the evening: another session focusing on lighting will soon begin and go on late into the night, thanks to the infinite patience of the crew and lighting stand-ins. Tonight, the theatre is still theirs. In three weeks, over 1,000 audience members will return again to these tiers of seats that have been left empty for two years. And the Archevêché will once again be filled with that special atmosphere you only experience on opening night.

Louis Geisler