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of a few pages where the instrumentalists manage to whisper without excess on a bare space.
She makes us listen to the impressionism of the score and the dynamic frictions with the same
facetiousness. It accompanies our trajectory as a listener. Music develops in this effect of quasi-
improvisation, testifying to the part of the unknown of a universe governed by natural laws
untouchable by Man. The abolition of the material order establishes a new frame of reference for
listening, which makes perceptible the material of craftsmanship, the smell of an old house, the
brightness of a wheat field or rural habits. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla tells us a story parallel to the
fabric of the opera, universal and individual, in addition to following its path strewn with pitfalls. It
includes a movement as if to make these supposedly irreconcilable trajectories miscible. She
distributes an obvious in large format, and fulfills the realism of the situations.

The instrumentalists, of extraordinary professionalism, facilitate his task by providing him with
waves of perfectly synchronized desks. And even when some instruments do not fall on the right
note, the conductor includes situations in a collateral way, without it being "damage" in this
sensational reference created from scratch. The cycle of nature is lived in the moment, not in
expectation or regret that the cycle will happen again. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla turns off the light,
lowers the lightning, then brings back the sun, tickles the mandibles, and reflects the coats. It
continuously has control over time and narrative, but leaves us the choice of the story we wish to
receive.

Let's move on to the Choir of Radio France,relatively anemic tonight, because the distribution
has something to please. Except perhaps Elena Tsallagova,as Renarde, who, unlike her
performance at the Opéra national du Rhin in 2016,lacks balance tonight in her nuances despite
a cheerful science of theater. The timbre, however far from being unpleasant, seems a little too
bright, and a few scratches of notes enamel here and there the lines. Angela Brower's Fox
dazzles and bewitches externally with a heart that pulsates inside, like a croissant coming out of
the oven. The Gamekeeper could only have been frank of the collar, in an avid wake; Roland
Wood makes him an exciting character with a fertile mind, assuming his mistakes without knowing
how to deal with them. By deliberately dragging the ends of notes, he draws velvet legs to the
character and highlights his unstoppable breath. Kitty Whately sings with great credibility and a
convincing relief of the disorientation that afflicts the Woman of the Gamekeeper, and the cancans
of the Owl. Robert Murray's ease is beautifully contagious, William Thomas' show
nourished,Ella Taylor's precision indisputable. The children of the Holy Trinity Catholic School in
Birmingham also give their best to make the animals they embody endearing.

Thibault Vicq
(Paris, 24 November 2021)