A conversation with Katherine M. Carter and Louis Lohraseb, stage director and conductor of Sarasota Opera’s production of Jules Massenet’s Thérèse
By Marina Harss
Who among us can claim to have seen Jules Massenet’s opera Thérèse performed in a theater? The answer is, almost no one. The two-act opera, set during the period just before the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, premiered in Monte Carlo in 1907, with a cast that included the French mezzo-soprano Lucy Arbell and the great French tenor Edmont Clément. And though it was a success at the time of its premiere, Thérèse never achieved the popularity of Massenet’s far more famous Werther and Manon, or even of the lesser-known Thaïs. And yet the libretto, by Jules Claretie, is deeply poetic, the plot poignant. Massenet’s music alternates between the ardent intensity of the exchanges between its three protagonists and the menacing sounds of the Revolution. This brief work in two acts, lasting just 70 minutes, is the story of a woman, Thérèse, torn between two loves. Her husband, André Thorel, is a revolutionary leader. The love of her youth, Armand de Clerval, is a nobleman who has lost everything, and whose life is in danger. To make matters worse, the two men are childhood friends.
I recently spoke with the stage director and conductor of the upcoming production of Thérèse for Sarasota Opera, Katherine M. Carter and Louis Lohraseb. This will be Carter’s second time in Sarasota, after directing Le Pêcheur de Perles in March of 2022, and it will be Lohraseb’s company début.
We spoke about love triangles, the ways in which love and political upheaval intersect, and why Thérèse isn’t better known.
So, had either of you had any experience with the opera Thérèse before now?
Katherine: A very short answer—no.
Louis: I have loved opera since I was two and a half years old and I had never heard of this opera in my entire life.
Why do you think it has fallen through the cracks to such an extent?
Louis: Massenet is known for these roles that have vocal pyrotechnics, as in Werther or Manon, and Thérèse doesn’t really have that. The music for the character of Thérèse doesn’t have a very showy quality, perhaps because of the singer it was made for, Lucy Arbell, whose prowess as an actress perhaps outshone her vocal abilities. But I think that’s also one of the opera’s strengths. It relies on the music and the drama to propel us forward, without waiting for this or that “famous” aria. It’s a different sort of experience.
Katherine: When I was reading the libretto, what struck me was how much juicy feeling there is in this opera. There is so much feeling between these three characters. It is a really well-done love triangle. I’m excited to do this piece because, even though I’d never heard of it before, I was very quickly drawn in by the libretto. In her very first aria, Thérèse gives us all the information we need. She says, “here’s where I am, here’s how I got here, here’s where my heart is.” It speaks to the acting quality needed for this role.
How does the music express these feelings and this situation?
Louis: You are cinematically swept away by the opening bars. Massenet thrusts you into the environment that these three people find themselves in. This is a love triangle, but you really feel the pressures of the Revolution. The military aspect of what’s happening is very present. And then there is the way Massenet uses the harpsichord in the scene in which Thérèse and Armand reminisce about their time together; it really brings the time in which the story is set to the forefront of the music. I just finished conducting Tosca, and there are a few interesting
L to R: Andrew Surrena, Armand de Cleval; Sean Anderson, André Thorel; Lisa Chavez, Thérèse. Photo by Rod Millingtonsimilarities. The action takes place within eight years of the events that frame Thérèse, and as in Tosca, the political landscape influences the drama so much, propelling the drama forward.
We don’t see the Revolution, but it’s there. What part does it play in the story?
Katherine: The Revolution is the drama. It is the reason why we have this love triangle. If the Revolution hadn’t happened, Thérèse would have married Armand. She couldn’t marry him because he had to flee. André offered safety. The Revolution isn’t only a backdrop but the force pushing the opera forward. Massenet does this incredible job of weaving the Revolution deeply into the romantic lives of these three characters from the beginning. We open and close with soldiers, we open and close with revolution. And what the opera does so beautifully is illustrate how quickly the Revolution was changing, month to month. It speaks to the instability of the time, and of the love story. Where do you place your bets, whose life do you choose to stand with? Every choice these characters make has consequences.
What kind of singers do you need for an opera like this?
Katherine: What I love about this art form is that an opera is like an operating manual. We’re given the text and the intention all in one package. And the singers I love working with are artists who really read the manual and notice things like the fact that there’s a harpsichord in that scene when they are reminiscing about the past. And who can connect the dots. Because the greatest joy is when we’re all playing together. For me, singers who are able to translate text and music, and who live in both worlds concurrently, are very important for an opera like Thérèse. Because there's nowhere to hide. There is a lot of stillness and conversation and questioning. It demands that a singer be present and active vocally, emotionally and physically from the get-go.
Lisa Chavez, Thérèse Photo by Rod MillingtonSo how do you keep the musical momentum moving forward in an opera that revolves around stillness, conversation, and questioning?
Louis: Our job is to make the piece feel unified and continuously moving forward, despite those moments of stillness or, or rather, that those moments of stillness and those solo moments are presented to the audience in such a compelling way that you are waiting for the very next thing to happen. The good news is that we have some beautiful music, and a very well-thought-out drama. The libretto itself is great, which you cannot say for many operas. We have poetry but we also have the expression of emotions we all feel. Despite this being such a period piece, these people are dealing with emotions and issues that many of us face. We don't have the French Revolution, but there are other factors that make us leave when we don't want to leave or experience the feeling that we should be with someone else, despite feeling loyal to another. The idea of love versus duty is so central to this opera.
Katherine: And these characters don’t exist in isolation. It’s not them versus the world, they are part of the world. It’s as if we’d taken a camera and zoomed in on these three people. Meanwhile, in another part of France, the Dialogue of the Carmelites is happening. Continually reminding ourselves that these three are three of many, I think is going to be really key to playing into the vibrancy of this piece.
