3 November 2023.
By Neptune
This week – an unfortunate film and a magnificent evening at the Opera…
COMPLÈTEMENT CRAMÉ *1/2 (vo French)
Three fine actors – Fanny Ardant, John Malkovich and Emilie Duquenne – are wasted here in a too clichéd, simplistic tale of an English gentleman who pretends to be a butler to a distressed French lady who has financial problems with her chateau.
It could have been delightful but the weak script, direction and slow pace make it tiresome. Pity.
MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES
Opera-tango at Geneva’s Grand Theatre
With a whirlwind of Astor Piazzolla’s brilliant tangos from his 1968 Argentinean operita-tango (actually a musical), the Grand Theatre has gifted Geneva with magical evenings from 27th October to 5th November.
I saw it last night and am still under its spell.
The melodious airs of Piazzolla’s music and the poetry of Horacio Ferrar’s libretto (in Spanish with French and English surtitles) create a magical realism around the tale of the unfortunate Maria, born “on a day when God was drunk”. Poor but lovely and bewitched by the culture of tango, she ends up as a prostitute and in constant troubles.
This enchanting production has substituted dance with innovative acrobatic moves by the renowned Compagnia Finzi Pasca, which has worked with the Cirque du Soleil and prestigious theatre and opera companies around the world. It begins with Maria’s funeral, as the agile performers create a mystical Maria who comes to life again and climbs amusingly into the walled niches reserved for the coffins. And so starts her strange story through various transformations, both carnal and religious. Though the plot is not always coherent, it matters not since Piazzolla’s haunting music is the constant thread that carries through the production. From pole dancers to twirling beds with Maria dying or giving birth to even an ice skating sequence, the production enchants, as do the words of the libretto.
The two singers who incarnate Maria (Raquel Camarinha) and the narrator (Inés Cuello) are magnificent, with beautifully warm, complementary (non-operatic) voices. The production design is rich and full of contrast between dark and light, the director (Daniele Finzi Pasca) creates humour within all the tragedy, and the choreography (Maria Bonzanigo) is smooth and effortless. And the Argentinean conductor, Facundo Agudin, breathes life into Piazzolla’s tangos, with an orchestra embellished with guitars and bandoneon. Sublime.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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