SUOR ANGELICA Puccini / L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES Ravel – New National Theatre Tokyo

A double bill from OperaVision’s most easterly partner, New National Theatre Tokyo. Puccini’s Suor Angelica concerns the power of a mother’s love and the devastation of losing a child. The second half of our evening sweeps away all sentimental drama, and there opens the world of a teapot dancing the foxtrot with a Chinese cup, an armchair courting a Louis XV chair, objects and animals joining forces against a naughty child. This is the world of L’Enfant et les sortilèges, the ‘fantaisie lyrique’ by Ravel. In little under an hour, Puccini’s Suor Angelica demonstrates how music can stir our most profound emotions. A group of nuns discuss their desires, but Sister Angelica claims that she has never truly desired anything. This is a lie, because every single day since arriving at the convent, she has longed for her son, who was taken from her. When her aunt informs her that the little boy died several years ago, Angelica’s world collapses. First performed in New York in 1918, Suor Angelica shows Puccini at ease with the religious music of his ancestors but also in writing music with an electric dramatic charge - such as that of the meeting between Sister Angelica and her glacial aunt. In 1914, the director of the Paris Opera, Jacques Rouché, commissioned a libretto of L’Enfant et les sortilèges from the writer Colette, who wrote it in 1916. After numerous exchanges between Colette and Ravel, the project gradually took shape, albeit very slowly. It was not until 1924 that Ravel really began composing the work, completing it only five days before the premiere. This finely orchestrated musical gem shows the composer’s taste for humour, childhood poetry and animals – an affection he shared with Colette, particularly for cats! Two operas seem to be from two completely different worlds. As director Jun Aguni describes below ‘they however have common factors, such as insight into human nature and the fact that they make us reflect about our world today. Feel free to interpret them as you wish and enjoy.’ Full performance streamed on OperaVision from 15 December 2023 at 19:00 CET to 15 June 2024 at 12:00 CET: CAST Orchestra Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus New National Theatre Chorus Children Chorus Setagaya Junior Chorus Conductor Ryusuke Numajiri Director Jun Aguni Sets Atsumi Yokota Costume Emi Masuda Lighting Masao Oshima Choreography Noriko Ito Chorus Master Hirofumi Misawa Children Chorus Master Midori Kakee SUOR ANGELICA Suor Angelica Chiara Isotton La zia principessa Junko Saito La badessa Megumi Shiozaki La suora zelatrice Akiko Goke La maestra delle novizie Yuka Kobayashi Suor Genovieffa Maki Nakamura Suor Osmina Hare Ito Suor Dolcina Sachie Konno La suora infermiera Ryoko Suzuki Prima cercatrice Yoriko Maekawa Seconda cercatrice Mari Iwamoto La novizia Shihori Wada Prima conversa Nagisa Fukudome Seconda conversa Akiko Osakabe Music Giacomo Puccini Text Giovacchino Forzano L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES The Child Chloé Briot Mother Junko Saito The Armchair / A Tree Taiki Tanaka The Shepherdess / A Pastourelle / The Owl /The Bat Mao Morita The Comtoise Clock / The Cat Teppei Kono The Chinese Cup / The Dragonfly Shoko Sogo The Fire / The Princess / The Nightingale Rie Miyake A Shepherd / The cat / The Squirrel Yuki Sugiyama The Teapot ’Wedgwood black’ Takayuki Hamamatsu The Little Old Man / The Tree Frog Hideyuki Aochi Music Maurice Ravel Text Colette OperaVision is a freeview opera streaming platform, supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme. Watch live streams as the performances themselves unfold in the opera house. Enjoy a variety of shows - including opera, operetta, musical theatre, dance, ballet and concerts. Opera connaisseur or curious newcomer, there is something for everyone on OperaVision. @operavision