Through this shift in perspective, we seek to free Belle from the gaze that has been cast upon her and to restore her power: that of a woman who, after having been rendered an object, becomes a subject.”
Anne-Cécile Vandalem
Born in 1937, Philip Glass is, alongside Steve Reich and Terry Riley, one of the pioneers of minimalist music, an artistic movement that emerged in the United States in the early 1960s. Refusing any form of aesthetic or stylistic constraint, he explored a wide range of genres and lamented the distinction between so-called ‘serious’ music and popular music.
And yet, despite all the conventions that might have defined him, Philip Glass did not renounce the writing of opera. Thus it was that he created Einstein on the Beach at the Festival d’Avignon in 1976. The fruit of a close collaboration with the director Bob Wilson, this opera broke with tradition, overturning the conventions of both narrative and composition.
Working in cycles of three works, the composer chose the scenarios of Jean Cocteau as libretti when he embarked upon his new trilogy. And on 4 June 1994, at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, the audience witnessed an adaptation of La Belle et la Bête in an unprecedented form, an opera-cinema. Of Georges Auric’s original score, nothing remains.
Philip Glass chose to synchronise his own composition with the film directed by Jean Cocteau, so that the sung text was aligned with the actors’ lips in the course of the screening.
In making the tale her own in turn, a tale that has become a film and then an opera, the director Anne-Cécile Vandalem revisits the work in its entirety, and the character of Belle in particular. Henceforth, it is from the heroine’s point of view that the story is told.
Through the use of the camera on stage, Anne-Cécile Vandalem devises a framework that offers a critical gaze upon the history of cinema and literature. Without ever effacing the fiction or the spell it casts over reader and spectator alike, the staging here aspires to deepen and to enlighten the eye with regard to the relations of domination between the masculine and the feminine.
Did you know you can make your visit an unforgettable and unique experience?
With our premium package, you’ll enjoy benefits reserved for the select few: a personalized welcome from a member of the Châtelet’s management team, a private backstage tour before the show begins, a reserved table at the bar during intermission with a glass of champagne and a tasting platter, as well as priority coat check and valet parking if needed.
Enjoy the magic of the show to the fullest—Le Châtelet takes care of the rest!
Price: €125 per person (in addition to the ticket price for the show)
The premium package will be offered to you after you add one or more Category 1 tickets to your cart for dates on which the premium package is available.
Secrets d’une œuvre
To learn more about Beauty and the Beast, a presentation of the show will be held 45 minutes before the performance begins in the Salon Diaghilev, led by Aurélien Poidevin, editorial director of the Châtelet, on Friday, February 5, and Thursday, February 9, 2027 (free admission, reserved for ticket holders for that day’s performance).
Bord de scène le jeudi 11 février 2027 à l’issue de la représentation
