La Périchole

Offenbach brought to the stage by Pelly: a guarantee of an evening of madcap gaiety, in the pure spirit of vaudeville. Master of the genre, the stage director knows nonetheless what this happy fantasy of Peruvian pomp expresses: the power of office and the ravages of corruption. But hush! Tonight is the gala in honour of the Viceroy!

A curious destiny presides over the short story by Mérimée, Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement: its few pages inspired a great film from Jean Renoir, and to Jacques Offenbach one of his most endearing scores. The setting is Lima, in the last years of the Spanish colonial regime. La Périchole is quite pretty, she sings well, but she has hunger in her belly, and her lover Piquillo is a bit too umbrageous to let her set off in conquest, as she might fancy, of her masculine admirers. This is the opening of one of the most lively librettos that Meilhac and Halévy produced for Offenbach. Hailed at its premiere in 1868, this Périchole arrived six years later after a few retouches and the addition of a third act, providing Hortense Schneider one of her greatest triumphs. No doubt Laurent Pelly, with the inventiveness and sense of rhythm for which he is known, will draw out the best from these riches, to carrying to new summits a Périchole that is sure to be unforgettable.
 

Coproduction Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra de Dijon, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Bühnen Bern, Opéra de Toulon, Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française

In partnership with 

Music Jacques Offenbach
Libretto Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy
from a story by Prosper Mérimée Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement

Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne
Chœur de l’Opéra de Dijon

Musical director Laurent Campellone
Vocal conductor Edwige Herchenroder 
Choir conductor Anass Ismat
Staging and costumes Laurent Pelly
Adaptation of dialogues Agathe Mélinand
Staging Chantal Thomas
Lighting Michel Le Borgne
Costumes Jean-Jacques Delmotte
Staging assistant Paul Higgins
Scenography assistant Théo Phélipeau
Lightening assistant Sarah Eger

La Périchole Antoinette Dennefeld
Piquillo Philippe Talbot
Don Andres de Ribeira Marc Barrard
Comte Don Miguel de Panatellas Rodolphe Briand
Don Pedro de Hinoyosa Lionel Lhote

First Cousin/ First Demoiselle Chloe Briot
Second Cousin/ Second Demoiselle Lucie Peyramaure
Third Cousin/ Third Demoiselle Valentine Lemercier
Fourth Demoiselle Natalie Perez
Marquis de Tarapote/ Old Prisoner Eddy Letexier
Notaries Takeharu Tanaka, Jonas Yajure

Appearings Clara Ramirez-Rozzi, Pascal Oumakhlouf, Xavier Perez, Yvon-Gérard Lesieur, Wadih Cormier, Antoine Lafon, José-Maria Camacho Mantilla, Valérie d’Antochine