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Blu-ray Review
Jules Massenet
L'Histoire de Manon
- Aurélie Dupont (Manon)
- Roberto Bolle (Des Grieux)
- Stéphane Bullion (Lescaut)
- Alice Renavand (Mistress of Lescaut)
- Benjamin Pech (Monsieur GM)
- Karl Paquette (the Jailer)
Artists of the Paris Opera Ballet
Paris Opera Orchestra/Martin Yates
Choreography by Kenneth MacMillan;
Set by Karl Burnett & Gary Harris
Music arranged by Leighton Lucas,
Re-orchestrated by Martin Yates
Sets by Nicholas Georgiadis
BelAir Classiques Blu-ray BAC435 PCM DTS-HD Master Audio 125m (ballet) + 11m (bonus)
Also available on DVD BAC135: Amazon - UK - Germany - Canada - France - Japan
Parisian étoiles leave in style. In-house rules oblige the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet to retire at the age of 42, yet in the case of their leading dancers who bear the coveted title of "étoile" for life, the French know how to take leave of them. A festive evening is dedicated to the departing stars, a special night-out, ideally featuring a ballet of their choice. Filmed live on 18 May 2015, at the Paris Palais Garnier, this BelAir Classiques video documents the farewell performance of Aurélie Dupont, who was for more than 25 years one of the most brilliantly versatile and respected ballerinas of the company, as well as a popular artist abroad. While arguably no film could ever hope to render the nostalgia and emotion of the live event, including the particular atmosphere of the packed opera house and standing ovations that seem to go on for ages, director Cédric Klapisch at least provides a fair idea of the real thing and makes me wonder why these Parisian farewell events haven't been released before on video.
The long opening shot which has the camera travelling from the typical straight Parisian boulevards towards and into the Palais Garnier, up the monumental staircase, across the plush auditorium and stage, and finally into the gorgeous "Foyer de la danse" where Dupont is seen rehearsing, has to be one of the most exciting intros to a ballet performance ever put on film.
Aurélie Dupont danced Kenneth MacMillan's ballet L'Histoire de Manon for her final show. What better farewell is there than to appear one last time in an emotionally-charged role like Manon, offering passionate pas de deux and guaranteed to knock out the audience with an utterly poignant death of the heroine in the final scene? While created for London's Royal Ballet in 1974 the French have made the ballet their own, providing an alternative approach to this eternal crowd-pleaser. A couple of older films of the Royal Ballet in Manon are still available on DVD, yet a recording of the Paris version is welcome.
For the occasion Dupont was joined by Italian star Roberto Bolle as Des Grieux. The natural elegance and sophisticated manner of both dancers upgrades the ill-fated characters in MacMillan's graphic interpretation of Abbé Prévost's novel considerably, especially in the last Act where they are somewhat less convincing. But overall this is a magnificent performance with a ballerina at the height of her art. Paris étoiles Stéphane Bullion, Alice Renavand, Benjamin Pech and Karl Paquette form a first-class supporting cast. Excellent support also from the Orchestra of the Paris Opera, conducted by Martin Yates who successfully gave the Massenet compilation score a new sound and life in 2011.
The picture quality in this BelAir Classiques release is unfortunately not one of the best – the monochrome, brownish designs from Nicholas Georgiadis in Acts 1 and 2 don't fare well on screen. In longshots the spotlighting seems slightly overblown and one of the cameras has an obvious dust spot on the lens.
There are some moments where the camera seems to love Dupont a bit too much at the expense of other dancers (the evening was broadcast live in European movie theaters), but generally this is a highly recommendable ballet film. Klapisch included a short bit of the curtain calls, often more emotional than the ballet itself. However, the 11 minutes of interview with Dupont are all too short an extra. Klapisch's 2009 documentary on the ballerina ("Aurélie Dupont danse l'espace d'un instant"), re-screened with the French TV broadcast of her farewell, would have been the ideal bonus for this release.
As ballet fans know, Aurélie Dupont's farewell was far from the end of her career at the Paris Opera. In February 2016 she was appointed director of the ballet company.
Copyright © 2017, Marc Haegeman
