Production for rent: Le Comte Ory

In the days of the Crusades, the lords left for the Holy Land, leaving their women defenceless. Thus the sister of the lord of Formoutiers languishes in his castle, coveted by a depraved count and an amorous page. Each of them undertakes to approach the beautiful recluse, Ory by disguising himself, Isolier by revealing his soul: which of the two will lead the game?

A delicious tale of deception composed by a Rossini at the top of his game, served by a high-flying team: Louis Langrée, Denis Podalydès, Éric Ruf and Christian Lacroix. 

“Count Ory was seen in its time as a work of at least threefold surprise: a comedy programmed in the temple of serious opera, a vaudeville subject honoured by the greatest composer of the time, and the surprising repurposing of an occasional score.

All this seduces, confuses and invites a paradoxical approach, combining prudence with audacity, delicacy with strength, fantasy with seriousness.”
 

Denis Podalydès, director

“[…] one can only be satisfied with the complementarity between the dynamism of the orchestra and the calculated outrageousness of the stage, which rivals in sparkling tricks set in a controlled over-acting. In the wake of this, the trio with its strong sexual ambiguity closes the work with tenderness."

Libération, 28 December 2017, Guillaume Tion

“Denis Podalydès offers a delightful "Comte Ory" at the Opéra comique. For his first confrontation with the world of Rossini, Denis Podalydès succeeds in a master stroke, supported by the musical direction of Louis Langrée and a vocal cast carried away by the comic genius of Julie Fuchs.”

Télérama, 27 December 2017, Sophie Bourdais

“Denis Podalydès finds the right rhythm for this unbridled fantasy and, without forcing the issue, maintains the tension, succeeding in characterising the characters without sparing them, but without hindering the sympathy they exude. The sets by Eric Ruf and the costumes designed by Christian Lacroix are in the same spirit of efficiency and fun.”

Opéra Magazine, 28 April 2019, Michel Parouty – about the DVD

Number of Principals : 7 + 7 members of the choir
Chorus / parts (S/A/T/B) : 28 (7/7/7/7)
Extras : 2 actors

Instrumentation
49
8-7-6-4-3 / 3.2.2.2. / 4.2.3.0 / 3perc (timp)

Volume of the production
Set and props 2 containers

Other info
Last performed : Opéra Royal de Wallonie, 2018
Coproduction : Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Opéra Royal – Château de Versailles Spectacles