To celebrate the 200th anniversary of AndréErnestModeste Grétrys death the Opéra Royal de Wallonie brought the composers Guillaume Tell back to life in the city of his birth With a mostly Belgian cast they offer a brilliant revival of a monument of Walloon music history Stefano Mazzonis Di Pralafera decided to exaggerate the comic bent of the original libretto by framing the production with exuberantly zany stage sets inspired by circus theater Marc Laho incarnates the perfect hero Guillaume Tell and the sublime AnneCatherine Gillet his wife Madame Tell The opera is set in 13th century Switzerland and stages patriotic Swiss peoples heroic fight for libertywith Tell as their chiefagainst the evil and oppression of the Austrians led by Guesler the local governor A superb production of a raucously entertaining opera
