Watch Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Fauré's Pénélope

Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Pénélope

You can watch barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Eurymaque in Fauré;s Pénélope from the Opéra national du Rhin until April 21st by clicking HERE. The performance includes honorary barihunk Anna Caterina Antonacci in the title role.
 
The opera was featured along with Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring at the opening of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in March 1913. The opera is based on Homer's Odyssey and tells the story of Pénélope who has been waiting twenty years for the return of her husband Odysseus, the King of Ithaca. Meanwhile, many suitors emerged who she promised to marry when she has finished weaving a shroud for her father Laertes.

Mark Van Arsdale and Edwin Crossley-Mercer

A silent, but sexy figure in Olivier Py's Pénélope

The role of Pénélope was originally written for the soprano Lucienne Bréval, who triumphed in the roles of Brünnhilde, Kundry and Griselda. Fauré's score is often reminiscent of both Wagner and Debussy and is filled with exotic, poetic motifs of desire.

This production is directed by Olivier Py with sets by Pierre-André Weitz in a realistic yet dreamlike interpretation.