Le Bal, Operaticus
by Georges Briscot for Operaticus
Oscar Strasnoy’s surprisingly delightful, sharp-witted comedy piece, Le Bal (based on the 1930 novella by Irène Némirovsky, with libretto by the director). I say “surprisingly” because one does not expect a new opera by a little-known composer to be—to put it plainly—so good.
Mr. Strasnoy has accomplished that rarest compositional feat: here is a work—(a one-act fable about a daughter’s revenge on her self-obsessed mother)—that has an original musical voice, that maintains dramatic tension, and that manages to be genuinely hilarious and bitingly observant at the same time. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so much at the opera. Much credit is due to the director, who boldly staged the piece in an absurdist and very Gallic manner, and even more is due to the impressive ensemble cast, who performed Strasnoy’s challenging score with fearless energy and comic abandon.