1.0Opera Zuidhttps://operazuid.nl/en/Fanny Bartelshttps://operazuid.nl/en/author/fanny/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="hQVimKU4Zx"><a href="https://operazuid.nl/en/performance/letoile/">L’Étoile</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://operazuid.nl/en/performance/letoile/embed/#?secret=hQVimKU4Zx" width="600" height="338" title="“L’Étoile” — Opera Zuid" data-secret="hQVimKU4Zx" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://operazuid.nl/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> https://operazuid.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Campagnebeeld_LEtoile_Opera_Zuid_vierkant_Bjorn_Frins-scaled.jpg25602556In 1993, Opera Zuid performed the Dutch premiere of L’Étoile. More than thirty years later, the witty comedy by the relatively unknown Emmanuel Chabrier returns to the Opera Zuid stage. Every year, King Ouf I looks forward to his self-conceived birthday present: having a random subject executed. This year, the choice falls on the brazen peddler Lazuli. However, court astrologer Siroco warns the king: Ouf’s star is closely linked to that of Lazuli. So if he dies, Ouf dies. Of course, the majesty does not allow that to happen: Lazuli’s life is protected at all costs. He is thoroughly pampered and is eventually even allowed to marry the princess! This absurd premise forms the basis of L’Étoile: a witty, socially critical opera. This Opéra Bouffe tacks between light comedy, black humour and sharp satire. Chabrier’s music is as surprising as the plot: a playful mix of sparkling melodies, impressionistic tones and subliminal darkness, in which the influence of Jacques Offenbach resounds and even points to Kurt Weill. With musical inventions such as a ‘tickle trio’ and a ‘sneeze aria’, Chabrier perfectly captures the madness of power and human folly. Is L’Étoile a fairy tale? A political parody? Existential satire? It is all of these at once. In any case, it holds up a funhouse mirror to us, in which the arbitrariness of power, the folly of fate and the transience of existence are shrewdly exposed. Director Matthew Eberhardt brings this unique story to life with great enthusiasm. He praises L’Étoile as ‘brilliant musical theatre’. With his versatile experience in theatre and musical theatre, he looks forward to introducing the audience to the bizarre and sometimes painfully recognisable world of Chabrier’s first major opera. Orchestra Philzuid provides the music for L’Étoile, conducted by French conductor Nicolas Krüger. L’Étoile lasts approximately two and a half hours, including the intermission, and is sung and spoken in French, with Dutch and English surtitles. IN CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR MATTHEW EBERHARDT Director Matthew Eberhardt can’t wait to immerse himself in the crazy, innovative and sometimes painfully recognizable world of L’Étoile. He sees the relatively unknown Emmanuel Chabrier as an unconventional composer who made music the way he felt it; playful, immensely creative and full of surprises! What do you think L’Étoile is about? ‘First of all, I think L’Étoile is a wonderfully entertaining and also very accessible piece. It shows a world in which you initially recognize a lot, but which gradually becomes crazier and more bizarre. The journey that you experience as a spectator is very exciting, unpredictable, and funny, both because of the story and the music.’L’Étoile contains criticism of the division of power and the social situation of nineteenth-century France. Will we recognize anything in that?‘The world of L’Étoile is easy for us to understand. The audience will undoubtedly recognize certain things. A slightly crazy government, for example, and the strong hierarchy in society. I also think that the audience - unfortunately actually - will see certain people from our time in the characters. I don’t have to refer to that explicitly at all. And in addition, L’Étoile is about how people deal with concepts such as time, death and transience. Whether you are a king or an orphan, you will ultimately have to find your own way in it. That is of course recognizable to everyone.’The composer, Emmanuel Chabrier, is not such a well-known name to us. What does his music sound like?‘His work is reminiscent of many composers and styles, such as Offenbach, Debussy, Ravel and Weill. But Chabrier definitely has his own fresh and unconventional approach. He is not afraid to let go of a style and in doing so creates his own unique musical style, which is full of surprises. His choral pieces, for example, are very action-oriented. They react immediately to what is happening in the scene at that moment. At the same time, his music is very refined and fragile. Opera can sometimes be a storm of sound, Chabrier's work is more vulnerable, there is a lightness in it in a very exciting way. 'Can you give an example of those surprises in the music? 'Chabrier had music lessons from an early age and liked to sit behind the piano. But he worked as a lawyer. In addition to his job at the Ministry of the Interior, he composed. Although he worked a lot with laws and regulations, he dared to tell his story in a very creative way in his music, without being too concerned with styles and conventions. In L'Étoile, for example, there is a kissing quartet, a tickling trio and a sneezing aria…! How did you come up with it?' How did you actually get into opera? 'As a child I loved listening to music and imagining what stories were being told and what they would look like.