DVD + Blu-Ray:
Gounod – Mireille / Opéra National de Paris

Gounod’s opera Mireille staged by Nicolas Joel at Opéra National de Paris (2009) conducted by Mark Minkowski with Inva Mula and Charles Castronovo.

Charles Gounod was enchanted by the young Provençal-born Frédéric Mistral’s epic love poem Mirèio, and enlisted the distinguished Michel Carré to fashion a libretto. Against the grain of prevailing operatic practice in the 1860s, and its promotion of glamour and spectacle, Gounod relished instead the lives of modest country people and their idyllic world. He utilises folk dances and a shepherd’s lament to chart the story of his tragic heroine whose desire to marry her true love ends in her death. ‘Everything feels true to the opera’s pastoral spirit’ wrote Gramophone about this production, which marked the opera’s first appearance at the Paris Opera.

Opera in five acts and seven tableaux (1864)
Libretto by Michel Carré after the poem Mirèio by Frédéric Mistral

Mireille INVA MULA Soprano
Vincent CHARLES CASTRONOVO Tenor
Ourrias FRANCK FERRARI Baritone
Maître Ramon ALAIN VERNHES Bass

ORCHESTRE DE L’OPÉRA NATIONAL DE PARIS
Conductor MARC MINKOWSKI
Stage Director NICOLAS JOEL

Film Director FRANÇOIS ROUSSILLON
Filmed on 11, 12 and 14 September 2009 at the Opéra national de Paris, Palais Garnier

[2.110683-84 / NBD0126V]
Total playing time: 151 minutes
Language: French · Subtitles: French, English, German, Japanese, Korean
DVD: NTSC 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS 5.0 · 2 DVD 9 · Region: 0 (Worldwide)
BD: HD 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS-MA 5.0 · BD 50 · Region: A, B, C