Opera Chic

Violetta = Edith Piaf? Maybe Zeffirelli Has A Point After All

Yesterday we were left a bit cold by Franco Zeffirelli's rant against every other director alive except himself (and three other survivors to his wrath).

Because, really, Frengo slapped around even our dear Graham Vick and that just doesn't fly at OC's headquarters.

But then, today we heard that the Traviata that just premiered at the Opera Garnier in Paris -- conducted by the appalling Sylvain Cambreling -- has been designed by the director, Swiss professional provocateur (*yawn*) Christophe Marthaler, as a twisted hommage to Edith Piaf, with a pinch of hip-hop dance numbers sprinkled all over the party scene, too, just to be, you know, hip or something.

In an orgy of golden lamé dinner jackets and Cabaret-style neon signs, the gloomy progression of Verdi's opera is marked by Marthaler's concept -- "Violetta could be a pop-star, or a model... she belongs to the world of the VIPs", had explained Marthaler, betraying his fundamental confusion, or ignorance, about the actual heart of the opera, which is the relationship of the démi-monde with the power structure of the day -- and then the kicker: "She resembles Edith Piaf, a small woman with a great voice, who had many men but wasn't a prostitute. I've been inspired by Piaf's affair with Theo Sarapo". k.

Gerard Mortier, on his way to New York City Opera, said: "This is the best show of my career".

Édith Piaf in Milan?!

This weekend Opera Chic missed a few things (more on that later, sometimes life interferes with art), among them the just-released Olivier Dahan film, La Vie En Rose (La Môme in French release), a film celebrating the tragic genius of Édith Piaf.

Debuted at the Berlin Film Festival this past February, 2007, it stars (much larger) Marion Cotillard magically filling the 4'8" frame of the French national icon. The film follows Piaf's colorful and incredible life (bf4e&e with Yves Montand, Jean Cocteau, and Marlene Dietrich) from her earliest memories to her death in 1963. Piaf dazzled Paris, but also made appearances at NYC's Carnegie Hall, singing “La Vie en Rose” and “Non, je ne regrette rien”.

It took Director Olivier Dahan three years to produce the film, only after poring through Piaf's personal letters and private writings, and channeling the spirit of the singer. His motivation was to expose the private pathos that drove Piaf's creative spirit, as opposed to the public image of the French superstar. His purpose was not to create a biopic, but to show her journey, and dissect the artistic drive behind the icon. The film was shot over the span of four and a half months in the beginning of 2006, in a Prague studio, Paris, and Los Angeles. Co-stars include film veteran Gérard Depardieu, Sylvie Testud, and Emanuelle "No, My Husband Is NOT A Paedophile, Merci" Seigner.

Now, we haven't read much about the film because we want to be surprised, but we are afraid it'll be a too-respectful look at an extraordinary artist's life, the way Clint Eastwood's well-meaning Bird kind of  embalmed Charlie Parker's legend in a long, slow, respectful cinematic funeral. We just don't know. It's just that Piaf's is possibly the only voice that can beat Callas's in the "raw, exposed nerves" department.

What's the word? Inoubliable.