Manuel de Falla at Angers Nantes Opéra: a breath of Andalusia in the Pays de la Loire!

Let us salute the welcome initiative of presenting a diptych entirely dedicated to Manuel de Falla. Bringing together El Amor brujo and La Vida breve in a single evening constitutes both a tribute to the Spanish composer and a rather bold gesture, as these works—fundamental in shaping a modern Spanish musical identity—remain unjustly neglected on French stages.

True to the artistic line that has defined his entire mandate, Alain Surrans, director of Angers Nantes Opéra, proposes for the 2026 season (his final one at the head of the institution) a programme both rich and distinctive, combining repertoire works, rarities, contemporary opera, and an openness to a diverse audience, notably young spectators. To open the season, El Amor brujo and La Vida breve were thus offered to the public in concert performance.

When Nantes warms itself under the Andalusian sun...

Under the baton of Roberto Flores Vézes, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and the house chorus reach remarkable intensity. The conductor imbues the evening with incandescent energy, privileging colour and rhythmic pulse without ever sacrificing precision. The orchestral fabric—of admirable density—highlights the sections (the strings conveying the hypnotic power of fire, or the oboe singing the “Moorish” and enchanting melody of the “Ritual Fire Dance” in El Amor brujo) without harming overall cohesion. Vézes succeeds in combining Falla’s sensuality and fire with an almost French clarity of texture, revealing the polyphonic richness of a writing too often reduced to picturesque effect. The music breathes, dances, burns… A beautiful achievement, made all the more bittersweet by the drastic funding cuts recently imposed by the president of the Pays de la Loire region (Christelle Morançais, Horizons), particularly affecting culture and youth. These have recently forced the orchestra to part ways with its excellent amateur chorus, which had accompanied it for some twenty years…

El Amor brujo: trance and flesh

The evening opens with El Amor brujo, in its 1916 version for symphonic orchestra and mezzo-soprano. As the Gypsy, Lucie Roche makes a very strong impression: her ample voice, dark and earthy in timbre, ideally matches the work’s telluric tension. Her lower register at times evokes the raw material of flamenco, without ever slipping into caricature. One appreciates the homogeneity of a vocal production that balances lower and upper registers, as well as her clear diction. Roche conveys the Gypsy’s inner turmoil—between curse and liberation—with striking dramatic density.

La Vida breve: social tragedy and incandescent lyricism

After the mystical blaze of El Amor brujo, La Vida breve emerges as its realist counterpoint. For this tragic fresco of doomed love, social drama, and fate, Angers Nantes Opéra assembled a coherent and well-matched cast.

Patricia Petibon, as Salud, proved divisive. Her dramatic commitment is unquestionable, and her presence commanding; yet the voice, at times uneven, struggles to deliver the authority required by the role. The high notes are uncertain, the middle register lacks firmness, and the overall line feels too fragmented to fully honour the character’s emotional continuity. Still, her sincerity and expressive engagement earned her a warm reception from the audience.

Opposite her, Carlos Natale offers a strong Paco—vocally assured, stylish, at once seductive and brutal, an equilibrium he finds convincingly. Jean-Luc Ballestra, as Uncle Sarvaor, impresses with the fullness and projection of his inherently theatrical timbre.

The second act, a turning point of the drama, is distinguished by the appearance of cantaora Laura Gallego-Gabezas, accompanied by the talented guitarist Hervé Merlin. Their intervention brings striking authenticity and emotional tension: suddenly, the boundary between opera and flamenco dissolves, and the stage becomes a space of raw truth. One realises here how Falla, through this integration of popular song, anticipated musical hybridisations to come.

The chorus, frequently used in the score as a form of dramatic commentary, is exemplary in balance and expressive accuracy. Special mention to the solo interventions—remarkably confident and precise in their brief roles—particularly those of Seungmin Choi (Voice in the forge) and Pablo Castillo Carrasco (Manuel).

A dreamt Spain

If one slight regret remains—the absence of a full staging, which would have allowed these Andalusian dramas to fully incarnate—the sonic richness and overall coherence more than compensate for it. Vézes and his musicians create a soundscape of rare density, where traditional music becomes a symphonic substance and metaphor of fate.

The Théâtre Graslin audience responded enthusiastically: sustained applause confirmed the success of what, for many spectators, was perhaps a revelation or rediscovery—beyond the famous “Ritual Fire Dance” of El Amor brujo or the “First Dance” of La Vida breve. May this success encourage other houses to grant Falla the place he deserves: that of a master of synthesis, blending Spanish sensuality, French refinement, and European modernity.

By Stéphane Lelièvre