ZURICH (EJP)--- ‘Dreyfus Intime’ by George Whyte preceded last month the première of David Pountney’s new production of Ludovic Halevy’s “La Juive” at the Zurich Opera.

When the British producer decided to place “La Juive,” an opera written in 1835 in the period of the Dreyfus Affair, it was bound to cause some controversy.

First because the Drefus Affair was a famous cause at the time of the ‘Belle Epoque’ some 75 years earlier, and secondly because the public could not see the connection between the blatant anti-Jewish primitive bigotry of the 14th Century and the sophisticated attitudes of France after the Age of Enlightenment. Many still do not equate Emile Zola with anything but a plea for justice for an innocent accused of treachery.

The fact that Alfred Dreyfus was a victim of anti-Semitism which tore France apart for years seems to have been overlooked.

This production of “La Juive” has everything one expects of a Pountney production, imposing sets by Robert Israel’s wonderful costumes, a fine cast with seemingly hundreds of extras and musical excellence.

The idea of an introduction to his very unusual interpretation was an excellent one as Halevy’s major opera has a superb plot but is based quite distinctly on the theme of racism, the Church’s anti-Jewish dogma and the blatant and open public hostility towards a small and harmless population of Jews.

What eminent Dreyfus expert George Whyte demonstrates in his dramatized staging of the moving letters which passed between the exiled officer and his devoted wife Lucie during 5 years on Devil’s Island was the absolute and total sense of honour and loyalty Captain Dreyfus maintained throughout his ordeal, as well as the undeserved confidence he had in the Army and the French Establishment of the day.

Letter to Pope

Lucie’s letter to Pope Leo XIII, begging for the Church’s help, which went unanswered, and Dreyfus’s own dignified letter to the President of France are rarely heard, while, apart from ’J’Accuse’, Emile Zola’s open letter to the President and people of France and which has become the most quoted slogan in the history of Human Rights. It is accompanied by Zola’s earlier impassioned writings.

The intense 75 minute piece for 3 actors is interspersed with original piano music from the time and were re-discovered by the author. Excellent Swiss actors Daniel Masgich, Aniko Donath and Rolf Sommer were sensitively accompanied by Sarah Tysman. David Pountney consulted on the production of ’Dreyfus Intime’ whilst George Whyte consulted on “La Juive.”

This version of “La Juive” could have been seen as an overproduced, over pretty version of a 19th Century drama...lots of pretty girls in sailor hats and white boots, lots of pretty boy cadets,a beautiful Princess Eudoxie in her palace with a nude portrait of her in Academic style surrounded by more pretty ballerinas a la Degas in pretty pink tutus.

It was saved by the reality of the Army present throughout, and by the wonderful performance of Neil Shicoff as Eleazar, a role which practically belongs to him and once heard,never forgotten.

The beautiful young Spanish soprano Angeles Blancas was perfectly cast as the tragic Rachel.

“La Juive” at the Opernhaus Zurich, 4 and 8 January 2008.  

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