Chabrier was a major focus of the 1994 Festival, marking the centenary of his death. The Usher Hall saw a concert performance of the surviving act of an unfinished serious piece, Briséïs. Opera North's significant contribution to the festivities included a staging of his enchanting comic masterpiece L' étoile. as well as a production of the comedy Le roi malgré lui - an even rarer piece, here given a try-out with an entirely new libretto.
Briséïs was a real festival oddity, unlikely to be repeated, but fascinating nonetheless. Certainly not a masterpiece, but it contains some highly effective pages. It was quite powerful in places. Young Simon Keenlyside made an effective appearance in a short role, with Kathryn Harries in another meatily dramatic mezzo part. The lyric voices of Joan Rodgers and Mark Padmore were sometimes pushed to their limits. Fortunately, this one off performance was recorded, so there was no need for them to risk doing it again.
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