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| Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini – Last scene – La Monnaie/De Munt (Photograph: Simon Van Rompay) |
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini; John Osborn, Ruth Iniesta, Florence Losseau, Tijl Faveyts, Jean-Sebastian Bou, Ante Jerkunica, director: Thaddeus Strassberger, conductor Alain Altinoglu; La Monnaie/De Munt, Brussels
Reviewed 8 Feburary 2026
A superb solid brings life to Thaddeus Strasberger’s fantastical and surreal imaginative and prescient of Berlioz’ first opera, in its Paris model, balancing the light-hearted with the extra considerate act of creation with a heroic efficiency from tenor John Osborn.
In each of his large-scale operas, Benvenuto Cellini and Les Troyens, Berlioz challenged the type of French grand opera, each musically and dramatically. It was a type aligned to the tastes center class viewers of Restoration Paris and to the formal buildings of the Paris Opera firm.
Each Fromental Halévy, with La Juive in 1835, and Meyerbeer, with Les Huguenots in 1836 and Le prophète in 1849, challenged the socio-political boundaries of the time, exploring historic topics that put modern society below the microscope. But neither composer made comparable musical challenges of their operas.
Against this, Berlioz wrote for himself, for posterity, with little thought to creating the work appropriate for the Paris Opera. Benvenuto Cellini was premiered on the Paris Opera in 1838 and it failed. It will not be carried out once more till Franz Liszt revived Berlioz’ considerably revised model in Weimar in 1851.
La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels is thought for its explorations of French grand opera so the truth that the corporate had not thus far carried out Benvenuto Cellini was a shock. This lack has been rectified with a brand new manufacturing by Thaddeus Strassberger, performed by Alain Altinoglu, that opened on 23 January 2026. We caught the fifth efficiency on 8 February. The manufacturing was designed and directed by Strassberger with costumes by Giuseppe Palella, lighting by Driscoll Otto, video by Greg Emetaz and dramagurgy by Sebastien Herbecq.
Cellini was performed by American tenor John Osborn, one of many go-to singers for the function in the meanwhile. Teresa was Spanish soprano Ruth Iniesta with Florence Losseau as Ascanio, Tijl Faveyts as Balducci, Jean-Sebastian Bou as Ferramosca and Ante Jerkunica because the Pope.
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| Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini – Cellini (John Osborn) & the ‘Muses’ – La Monnaie/De Munt (Photograph: Simon Van Rompay) |
Strassberger’s unbelievable tackle the opera inhabited a fantasy world that took components of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Italian imperial reimaginings of the Roman Empire and fused them through a really twenty first century creativeness alongside strategies of Nineteen Seventies Italian cinema and the work of artists Pierre et Gilles.
A central set on a revolve supplied the required motion and suppleness. This was a manufacturing that flowed, one thing at all times taking place, with a gaggle of 11 actors and dancers at all times on the go. That mentioned, the blocking was cleverly organised in order that within the difficult choral scenes, the refrain remained comparatively static. The outcome was visually wealthy and creative, mirroring Berlioz’ rating.
Maybe an excessive amount of so at occasions. There have been few moments of pause, although Cellini’s two nice solos, fortunately, allowed the main focus to decide on Osborn.
Strassberger injected the work with so many concepts that at occasions the stage image was bewildering, although the innate humour of his strategy actually helped. The over-egged nature of the staging meant that scenes may have myriad particulars that had been at risk of going unnoticed and had been stuffed with references too fleeting to position. There was additionally the sensation that Strassberger included relatively too many in-jokes. The work’s two finales, the Carnival in Act One and the casting of Perseus in Act Two, ought to type the climaxes, theatrically and musically. However right here, the stage was busy from the phrase go along with little sense of a build-up to every finale. Additionally, the casting scene in Act Two appeared to lack each musical and dramatic tensions.
Certainly one of Strassberger’s overaching concepts was the presence of 4 of the Muses. Performed by actors/dancers, they had been the embodiment of statues animated within the opening video, linking the staging on to the structure of the Brussels’ opera home. The 4 took on an energetic function in Cellini’s imaginative life, encouraging him and ensuring his inventive endeavours had been on monitor. One other parallel thread was the best way both Cellini or the Muses hit on a seemingly random character (performed by the identical dancer every time) to embody Perseus, every time with fewer garments till he grew to become the bare statue within the closing scene of the opera.
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| Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini – Carnival scene – La Monnaie/De Munt (Photograph: Simon Van Rompay) |
The pantomime through the Carnival was expanded by a spoken scene between three extravagantly costumed drage queens (together with Aleksei von Wosylius and Florian Poullet-La Veuve) that was mildly amusing at first however relatively overstayed its welcome.
John Osborn made a stable Cellini. Heroic of tone and fewer devil-may-care than anticipated, he fashioned a agency focus round which the staging flowed. Maybe throughout his Act Two solo there have been hints of tiredness however this was a powerful and interesting account of an ‘unattainable’ function. All through he sang with a superb sense of line and full fearlessness for the function’s tessitura and complexity. He held our consideration and made us take care of this relatively slap-dash artist. The work’s deal with inventive creation was one thing that neither Strassberger nor Osborn allow us to neglect.
Ruth Iniesta made a trendy and poised Teresa. She was much less the ingenue and extra a assured younger lady with a way of favor that appeared to come back out of Nineteen Seventies Italian cinema (and maybe we must always look there for a few of Strassberger’s different inspirations within the opera). There was a powerful lyric core to Iniesta’s voice and her strategy to the music was fearless. The outcome was each musical and fascinating. Florence Losseau, full with moustache and beard, made a pleasant Ascanio. Her two solos had been each high-points, although having her Act Two solo performed while stress-free on the seashore appeared considerably overdone.
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| Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini – Cellini (John Osborn) & Teresa (Ruth Iniesta), opening of Act Two – La Monnaie/De Munt (Photograph: Simon Van Rompay) |
Tijl Faveyts (who was introduced as recovering from sickness) introduced a powerful sense of character and present for comedy to the function of Balducci. His model of the character was no idiot, however nonetheless self absorbed and humorous. Wanting a bit like a lower-class civil servant in a three-piece swimsuit, Jean-Sebastian Bou’s Fierramosca by no means understood how he did not measure up both as Teresa’s lover or as an artist. It says one thing for Bou’s nonetheless that we laughed and felt sorry. Ante Jerkunica made a commanding Pope, musically and visually. A tall man with the voice to match, Jerkunica made this Pope not a bit of camp too. Pleasant.
The smaller roles had been all very properly taken and every vividly characterised. Luis Aguilar and Leander Carlier had been full of life and vigorous enjoyable as Cellini’s side-kicks, Francesco and Bernardino. Gabriel Nani was a fierce Pompeo, right here the proprietor of a Porchetteria stall which made all of the by-play with sharp blades comprehensible in contex. Yves Saelins made probably the most of his second as Le Cabaretier.
Strassberger’s overal imaginative and prescient of the work appeared to tackle a surreal, overheated really feel with the heightened sense of a Nineteen Seventies movie. It’s to the solid’s credit score that they by no means managed to get misplaced inside this melange and that character and musicality counted.
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| Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini – Carnival scene – La Monnaie/De Munt (Photograph: Simon Van Rompay) |
The refrain was on terrific type. Berlioz writes extensively for them and offers the singers loads of challenges. All finely conquered in a efficiency notable for wealthy, heat tone.
Within the pit Alain Altinoglu revelled within the luxuriance of Berlioz’ orchestral wriring. This was Berlioz writing for the orchestra of the Paris Opera, the biggest and best orchestral machine of its time, full with 4 bassoons, 4 harps and loads of brass and percussion. Altinoglu managed to maintain the music’s fleetness and for all of the moments of grandeur, this efficiency was comparatively gentle on its toes. Altinoglu is an skilled Berliozian and is strategy to the work saved the music flowing while revelling within the element.
The model used was Paris 2, the revised, post-censor model that was truly staged [Paris 1 is the opera as first delivered by Berlioz]. Altinoglu argues, within the programme e book, that Paris 2 is probably the most coherent dramatcally. Talk about! However we ought to be grateful that the Weimar model was not chosen.
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| Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini – John Osborn – La Monnaie/De Munt (Photograph: Simon Van Rompay) |
The best Cellini I’ve ever heard was Giuseppe Sabbatini who reduce a lithe and stylish determine in Colin Davis’ 1999 efficiency with the LSO [alas not released on LSO Live]. The problem of the function stays one of many the the reason why the opera is just not carried out too typically. Current European performances have relied closely on the skills of each John Osborn and Michael Spyres, and I do hope that there are different, youthful tenors ready within the wings.
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