Susanna Mälkki takes the podium at the Bavarian State Opera to conduct the company’s first-ever production of Gabriel Fauré’s Pénélope, marking a rare revival of the composer’s only opera. The staging is part of the Munich Opera Festival, which this year celebrates its 150th anniversary and explores the theme “Myth and Music Theater”.
Premiered in Paris in 1913, Pénélope is a lyrical retelling of the final chapters of Homer’s Odyssey, focusing not on the hero Ulysse, but on his wife, Pénélope. After twenty years of waiting for her husband’s return from the Trojan War, she continues to resist mounting pressure from suitors trying to seize the throne.
Fauré’s score is through-composed and quietly expansive, built from long, fluid lines and recurring thematic ideas. “It’s interesting because the opera is based on a story from antiquity, so it has this monumental element,” says Mälkki, “but at the same time it just flows. It doesn’t have this traditional shape of opera in terms of arias and ensembles.” She describes the score as “a kind of Debussian world,” characterized by harmonic ambiguity and unpredictability. “Fauré was still a French composer, so there is a certain element of elusiveness in the score.”
Director Andrea Breth brings a psychologically driven interpretation of Pénélope, delving into the emotional complexity of a reunion shaped by decades of separation. Her production is brought to life with set designs by Raimund Orfeo Voigt, costumes by Ursula Renzenbrink, and lighting by Alexander Koppelmann.
The cast is headed by Victoria Karkacheva in the title role, with Brandon Jovanovich as Ulysse, Rinat Shaham as Euryclée, Thomas Mole as Eumée, and Loïc Félix as Antinoüs. The ensemble also features Leigh Melrose as Eurymaque, Joel Williams as Léodès, Zachary Rioux as Ctésippe, Dafydd Jones as Pisandre, Valerie Eickhoff as Cléone, Seonwoo Lee as Mélantho, Martina Myskohlid as Alkandre, Ena Pongrac as Phylo, Eirin Rognerud as Lydie, and Elene Gvritishvili as Eurynome.
Performances take place on July 18, 21, 23, 26, and 29 at the Prinzregententheater. The premiere will be broadcast live on BR-Klassik radio.
Photo: Eric Kemnitz