Richard Termine for The New York Times
Lalla Roukh Marianne Fiset and Emiliano Gonzalez Toro starred in this work presented by Opera Lafayette on Thursday at the Rose Theater.
On Thursday evening Opera Lafayette presented a graceful and witty production of Félicien David’s “Lalla Roukh” at the Rose Theater. This opéra-comique set in Mughal India had fallen into oblivion since its wildly successful premiere in 1862, well ahead of the wave of other French operas like Bizet’s “Pêcheurs de Perles,” Delibes’s “Lakmé” or Meyerbeer’s “Africaine.”
Operas like these, in which the West’s flirtation with distant locales is colored with condescension, can bring on a toothache in the stage director who has to choose between an unreconstructed eye-candy approach or a Splenda version that leaves an aftertaste of postcolonial embarrassment.
Here the director, Bernard Deletré, devised an unusual solution when he brought in an Indian fashion designer, Poonam Bhagat, and the exquisite Kalanidhi dance troupe choreographed by Anuradha Nehru to add vibrant touches of authenticity to the dress and movement of characters who otherwise seem less rooted in South Asia than in commedia dell’arte. The spoken dialogue was edited down to its dramatic essentials and delivered with great clarity by the glowing cast of singers, most of whom were native French speakers. Together with Ryan Brown, who conducted with a fine ear for flow and comic timing, they made a solid case for “Lalla Roukh” as an overlooked gem of more than historical interest.
The heroine is a princess from Delhi who travels to Bukhara to marry its king. On a mountain pass in Kashmir she is waylaid by a silver-tongued poet with whom she falls in love. She arrives at the court determined to throw over the royal match in favor of the penniless poet, but it turns out that he was in fact the king disguised to test Lalla Roukh’s heart.
The opera contains exquisite musical moments, like the ballet in Act I in which the chorus evokes the starry sky reflected in a clear mountain lake with filigree woodwind solos against caressing choral lines. The following ballet of bayadères is carried by lively rhythms on an array of exotic percussion instruments, here joined by the ankle bells of the dancers.
Although David’s Orientalism is never authentic, it is still rich in naturalistic touches. As a young man he spent two years in Cairo and his familiarity with non-Western modes comes through in finely wrought oboe solos, alluring chromatic vocal lines and, in one aria, pizzicato passages meant to imitate the sound of a guzla.
Marianne Fiset sang the title role with a glowing, well-supported soprano that brought out the Jane Austen-like independence and likability of her character. The tenor Emiliano Gonzalez Toro was outstanding as the poet-king Noureddin, bringing a scintillating array of nuances to a character who is by turns comic, regal and wistful. The role of Lalla Roukh’s quick-witted maid, Mirza, was sung by Nathalie Paulin with a honeyed soprano. Mr. Deletré, the director, stepped into the buffoonish role of Baskir, the king’s chamberlain, with conviction and comic abandon.
India Ink: 'Lalla Roukh' at the Rose Theater
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India Ink: 'Lalla Roukh' at the Rose Theater
