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Thomas Adès

THE EXTERMINATING

ANGEL After an evening at the opera, guests meet to dine with the aristocrat Edmundo Nóbile. Once the meal is over, the guests realize that they can not leave the house. The door is open, but an invisible force prevents anyone from entering or exiting ... Following the rapturous response to his last opera, The Tempest, the Met presents the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name. Hailed by the New York Times at its 2016 Salzburg Festival premiere as “inventive and audacious … a major event,” The Exterminating Angel is a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can’t escape. Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto, directs the new production, and Adès conducts his own adventurous new opera. Music by Thomas Adès, libretto by Tom Cairns in collaboration with the composer, based on the screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza Production a gift of Robert L. Turner Additional funding from The H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang, PhD. and Oscar Tang Endowment Fund, the Francis Goelet Trusts, and American Express A co-commission and co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Royal Danish Theatre, and Salzburg Festival

DATE : Saturday 18 November 2017 Time : 6.25 pm

OpeEra In 2 acts BY Thomas Adès Run time : 2hrs 30mns

Conductor and cast

Conductor

Thomas Adès

Leticia Maynar

Audrey Luna

soprano

Lucía de Nobile

Amanda Echalaz

soprano

Silvia de Ávila

Sally Matthews

soprano

Beatriz

Sophie Bevan

soprano

Leonora Palma

Alice Coote Mezzo-soprano

Blanca Delgado

Christine Rice

Mezzo-soprano

Francisco de Ávila

Iestyn Davies

Countertenor

Edmundo de Nobile

Joseph Kaiser

tenor

Raúl Yebenes

Frédéric Antoun

tenor

Eduardo

David Portillo

tenor

Colonel Álvaro Gómez

David Adam Moore baritone

Alberto Roc

Rod Gilfry

baritone

Señor Russell

Kevin Burdette

bass

Julio

Christian Van Horn

Bass Baritone

Docteur Carlos Conde

Sir John Tomlinson

bass

The Exterminating Angel

World Premiere: Salzburg Opera House, April 2016. With The Tempest, created in London in 2004, resumed everywhere (except in Paris), Thomas

Adès has offered to posterity the first lyrical masterpiece of the 21st century - which followed

the already noted Powder her Face ( 1995). This summer, all eyes and ears were turned to

Salzburg, which released the new opus of the British composer (born in 1971).

The Exterminating Angel takes us far away from the Shakespearian shores. The work borrows

its title and its argument from the 1962 film directed by Luis Bunuel under Surrealist influence.

After an evening at the Opera, an assembly of aristocrats and wealthy bourgeois ends up at

supper in the wealthy home of Edmundo and Lucia de Nobile. There is the conductor who has

just directed Lucia di Lammermoor, the soprano who sang the title role, his brother and sister, a

doctor and one of his patients, a colonel ... in all fourteen strong heads joined by the only

servant who did not dare to flee.

Setting

The evening takes place in a good social

mood, but after the feast, and for no

apparent reason, none of the guests find

the strength to leave the place. One night

passes, then several days, one of the

guests passed away, an idyll is formed

between a thirty-year-old architect and

the dapper Beatriz. For all those

shipwrecked civilians, then begins a slow

but inevitable decline. Until the diva

Leticia Maynar, in a flash of lucidity and

unexpected will, manages to free his

friends from the curse that has fallen on

them.

Thomas Adès master in voice writing

Divided into two acts of equivalent length, Adès' four-handed adaptation and director Tom Cairns remains very faithful to the original script and dialogues, while condensing them. Aside from the final intervention of Leticia, there is therefore really arias, as could be heard in La Tempête; we are rather in the register of the conversation in music, which does not however prohibit some generous solo parentheses, nor vertiginous polyphonic lashes - like this scene of general hysteria in Act I, when the characters understand that the situation their escape, or grand concertato of the II, when they ask that a victim is sacrificed in order to be saved. Outside the house, therefore often behind the scenes, the chorus of a crowd of curious commentaries on the action and attempts, in vain, to intervene. Ades confirms that he is a master in vocal writing, this Achilles heel of so many contemporary operas. The psychology of each role is finely differentiated, both by the diversity of tessitons (from the baritone bass to the stratospheric coloratura) and by melodic drawings specific to each character. At first lively and joyful, the lines stretch and twist together with events, reaching tops of flayed Expressionism. In contrast to this evolution, the duets of young lovers, the only oxygen bubbles in this stale atmosphere, are becoming more and more elegiac, passionate as those of Tristan and Isolde - they will end by unite in death , suicidal at the bottom of a cubicle. The affects and the theater are also in the pit, where an orchestra rumbles to the heady powers suggestive, real mental decor of the room. Some interlude virtuosos also chant the narrative, like this vast chaconne in the form of a disturbing martial explosion which opens act II (beginning of the first night). Among these great symphonic ensembles, Ades slipped a guitar (probably to recall the Hispanic origin of his subject) and, above all, the Ondes Martenot, borrowed from Messiaen to represent the voice of the angel, that supernatural power humans. To which is added a volley of bells that welcomes the spectators as to the representation of a sacred mystery. No doubt to say that everything can begin again, they will resound again at the end, while the chorus and the whole band intone a Libera me, repeating until the trance the same musical motif.

Composer

Thomas Adès studied piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music in London with Paul Berkowitz and Robert Saxton respectively. He then studied writing at King's College in Cambridge and was awarded the prize in 1992.

He was noticed by the national press in January 1993, on the occasion of his opening recital at the Purcell Room in London and the creation of his work Still Sorrowing; he was then propelled to the British music scene and soon acquired international fame. From 1993 to 1995, he was composer-in-residence at the Hallé Orchestra, resulting in works such as The Origin of the Harp (1994, Rostrum Young Composer Award) and The Premises Are Alarmed, Bridgewater Hall in 1996. Living Toys, a work of reference that is now frequently played and whose recording at EMI is the recipient of the Gramophone Editor's Choice Award, was presented at the Barbican Center in London under the direction of Oliver Knussen in 1994. The same year, Sonata da Caccia (BBC commission for the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group) and Arcadiana (Elise L. Stoeger Award in New York in 1998). Cambridge Festival by the Endellion Quartet.

In addition to the numerous awards he received for his works, he was awarded the prestigious Salzburg Easter Festival and Ernst von Siemens prizes for young composers in 1999, as well as the Hindemith Prize in 2001.

His first opera Powder her Face, commissioned by the Almeida Opera for the 1995 Cheltenham Festival, is performed around the world and broadcasted on Channel 4. The second commissioned by The Royal Opera House, The Tempest from Shakespeare's play an ambitious work where Adès affirms a clear clarification of his style, created in Covent Garden in London, critically acclaimed in 2004 and winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society of London Prize in 2005.

After the release of Asyla (Prize of the Royal Philharmonic Society of London in 1997, Mercury Music in 1999 and Grawemeyer in 2000), the symphonic field was enriched with a Violin Concerto (2005) created at the Berlin Festival and the BBC Proms European Chamber Orchestra, and a second orchestral work for Simon Rattle, Tevot (2007), commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall. More recently, Polaris was created by the New World Symphony at Frank Gehry Hall in Miami in January 2011.

Conductor and pianist, Thomas Adès is the author of about forty scores that met a large audience. Several festivals have given him portraits: Musica Nova in Helsinki in 1999, the Salzburg Festival in 2004, the Présences Festival of Radio France in 2007 and "Traced Overhead - The Musical World of Thomas Adés" at the Barbican Center in London in 2007, He is the artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival since 1999, where he performed in 2007 in these different facets. Carnegie Hall in New York invites him to hold the Richard and Barbara Debs Chair and presents him as a composer, conductor and pianist for the 2007-2008 season.

Thomas Adès claims an approach to the composition and resources of new technologies deeply entrenched in tradition, without pouring into post-modern hedonism. Eminently learned, expressive and sophisticated, his music refers to the past as well in its formal construction as through literal quotes or interpolations of multiple materials. His style is characterized by refined musical writing, rapid changes of atmosphere and a rhythmic complexity of great virtuosity.

In 2011, Musical America named Thomas Adès Composer of the Year and EMI Classics publishes an "Adès anthology" in a set of two CDs.

Movie :

El ángel exterminador – Luis Bunuel - 1962

The interpretation of The Exterminating Angel has been much in the news. The explanation of the physical or psychic phenomenon that holds guests is only of secondary importance. What interests Luis Buñuel, is to observe a small group of people, bound by pure social convenience, put in an extreme situation. Prevented from doing the simplest act of all, leaving a room, they show themselves in another light; all social varnish flakes, tensions appear, protective powers invoked (religion, Freemasonry, witchcraft) are here inoperative. From the beginning of the film, we observe strange phenomena: the servants leave the house, scenes are repeated, the mistress of places, yet stilted, prepared jokes absurd. Shot with limited means in Mexico, The Exterminating Angel is a powerful social fable with multiple possible interpretations.

In his memoirs, Luis Buñuel speaks thus: "What I see there, it is a group of people who can not do what they want to do: to leave a room. The inexplicable impossibility of satisfying a simple desire. This often happens in my films. In The Golden Age, a couple wants to unite without succeeding. In This obscure object of desire, it is the sexual desire of an aging man who is never satisfied. Archibald de la Cruz tried in vain to kill. The characters of Discreet Charm want to dine together and do not succeed. Perhaps we could find other examples. " (Luis Buñuel « Mon dernier soupir »)

"I always felt attracted, in life as in my films, by the things that are repeated. I do not know why, I'm not trying to explain it. There are at least a dozen repetitions in The Exterminating Angel. " (Luis Buñuel « Mon dernier soupir »)

Luis Buñuel says to have been inspired by a big dinner in New York where the mistress of house had imagined to make execute certain gags to surprise and to amuse her guests. The waiter who spreads out all the while bringing a dish is thus true. In The Exterminating Angel, she had also planned a gag (which we will never know) with a bear and sheep! Some "fanatical critics of symbolism" (Buñuel said) saw in the bear the Bolshevism that was watching society at the beginning of the sixties ... whereas, if symbol there is (and there is certainly one) it is rather the return to a certain animality: the group observes the bear elsewhere with a kind of fascination and respect. Ewes symbolize the freshness and vulnerability of being. With these sheep, Buñuel also makes a funny little pique to religion (it was missing!) At the very end: the church collects lost sheep ... but we know what will be their fate!

Synopsis

Act I A luxurious mansion on the Calle de la Providencia, the home of Lucía and Edmundo de Nobile, in the 1960s. Guests are expected for dinner, but strange things are happening. At the mansion of Edmundo and Lucía de Nobile, guests are expected for dinner, but strange things are happening. The butler, Julio, fails to stop Lucas, the footman, from running away, and the maids Meni and Camila also attempt to leave. The Nobiles arrive after attending a performance at the opera. When the guests go into the dining room, Meni and Camila finally escape along with some other servants. At dinner, Nobile toasts Leticia. As Lucía announces the first course, the waiter spills it spectacularly on the floor, but not everyone is amused. Lucía decides to postpone her other “entertainments,” and a performing bear and a number of lambs are removed to the garden. The rest of the servants flee the house despite Lucía’s protestations. Only Julio remains behind. In the drawing room, Blanca performs at the piano. The engaged couple Eduardo and Beatriz dance, and Leonora flirts with Dr. Conde. When he declines to dance, she kisses him instead. Conde confides in Raúl Yebenes that Leonora is gravely ill and does not have long to live. Blanca’s performance ends to general acclaim. The guests encourage Leticia to sing, but Señor Russell protests that she has performed enough for the evening. A number of guests prepare to depart, while Roc falls asleep. In the cloakroom, Lucía gives her secret lover, Colonel Álvaro Gómez, a fleeting kiss. The guests become lethargic and distracted—although it is now very late, none of them attempts to leave. Though confused, Edmundo graciously offers beds to anyone who wishes to stay. Russell and the Colonel are horrified as some guests remove their tailcoats, but eventually they too lie down to sleep. Eduardo and Beatriz retreat to a private corner to spend their first night together.

Act II

The guests wake the following morning. Silvia announces that she slept very badly. Conde examines Russell: The old man is dying. Julio is supposed to prepare breakfast but reports that no supplies have arrived at the house. When Lucía tries to take some of the ladies to her bedroom to freshen up, they do not make it past the threshold of the dining room. Blanca is worried about her children, but even she and her husband are unable to leave. Silvia finds the unusual situation humorous, particularly as she knows her son is in good hands with his private tutor, Padre Sansón. A further attempt by the guests to leave fails when Julio approaches with coffee and the leftovers from the previous evening’s dinner. Leticia entreats the butler not to enter the drawing room, but her warnings are in vain. Blanca is desperate, while Raúl sees no reason to get overly excited. Francisco complains that he cannot possibly stir his coffee with a teaspoon. When sent to procure coffee spoons, Julio also seems to have become a prisoner in the drawing room.

Evening approaches. Russell’s condition has worsened: He has fallen into a coma and needs urgent medical attention. When they have nothing left to drink, the guests begin to panic. Conde pleads for calm, although even he seems to be losing his composure. Raúl becomes aggressive and holds Edmundo responsible for the situation. Francisco is frantic and resists all attempts at pacification. Russell suddenly and unexpectedly regains consciousness, expressing his relief that he will not live to experience the “extermination.” Beatriz is troubled by the thought of dying amidst all these people, rather than alone with Eduardo.

During the night, Russell dies. Conde and the Colonel haul his corpse into the closet, while Eduardo and Beatriz watch in secret.

Acte III

Police guarding the mansion drive back a crowd of people gathered outside. Although some people break through the police ranks, nobody is able to enter the house.

In the drawing room, Julio and Raúl burst a water pipe, and the guests rush desperately to quench their thirst. Tormented with hunger, everyone’s behavior becomes increasingly irrational. Blanca combs only one side of her hair, driving Francisco to hysterical desperation. When he is unable to find the pills for his stomach ulcer, Francisco immediately presumes that someone has hidden them. Raúl goads Francisco about his relationship with his sister and triggers a volley of insults between the two men. Edmundo tries to keep the peace, but this merely earns him recriminations. Leonora, who is in great pain, expresses her longing for the assistance of Conde and the Virgin Mary. Francisco is nauseated by Blanca’s smell and once again loses his nerves.

In her delirium, Leonora sees a disembodied hand wandering around the drawing room. Trying to stop it, she stabs Blanca’s hand with a dagger. In the closet, Eduardo and Beatriz decide to take their own lives. Roc appears to molest Leticia, but Raúl accuses the Colonel instead. Edmundo is injured during the ensuing scuffle. The lambs from the garden wander into the drawing room.

The army has quarantined the mansion. Padre Sansón appears with Silvia’s son, Yoli, and the people demand that the boy be sent inside. Despite encouragement from the crowd, Yoli is unable to get into the house.

The guests have slaughtered the lambs and cook them on a makeshift fire. Leonora recalls a premonition she had on the evening of the opera performance and attempts a magic ritual with Blanca and Leticia. It fails, and she declares that innocent blood is needed. Francisco discovers Eduardo and Beatriz’s bodies in the closet. During the course of yet another quarrel, Raúl hurls Francisco’s box of pills out of the drawing room. Silvia no longer takes any interest; cradling the corpse of one of the lambs in her arms, she thinks she is rocking Yoli to sleep.

The bear appears across the threshold. Gradually the idea takes hold among the guests that a sacrifice is needed to secure their liberation: Edmundo must be killed. Conde and the Colonel try to make the others reconsider but to no avail. Edmundo declares that he will sacrifice himself, but Leticia interrupts him. She realizes that, at this moment, each of them is in exactly the same place as when their strange captivity began. With her encouragement, the others hesitantly repeat their actions from that first night. Together they approach the threshold and are finally able to cross it. The guests and the crowd outside the mansion encounter one another. Their freedom will not last long.

Synopsis reproduced by kind permission of the Salzburg Festival.

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