Letter to Peter

Letter to Peter (1992)

MusicDocumentaryTV Movie

In 1992, Olivier Messiaen's epic opera "Saint François d'Assise" was brought to the Salzburg Festival in a staging by Peter Sellars. The distinct visual appearance that Sellars lent to the opera, where video monitors with powerful images are used as a sort of high-tech metaphor for a cathedral's stained glass, drew critical acclaim and is still talked about as a watershed moment in opera to this day. This film here is a 75-minute documentary on the 1992 staging. Jean-Pierre Gorin filmed Sellars, baritone José van Dam (St. Francis) soprano Dawn Upshaw (The Angel), and the LA Philharmonic and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen as they rehearsed for the big day. There are interviews with these artists, though Sellars gets most of the screen time. The documentary is very much about Sellars' vision for Messiaen's theatrical drama. Very little is said about Messiaen's music.

Director: Jean-Pierre Gorin

Casts

	Esa-Pekka Salonen as Self - Conductor
	Dawn Upshaw as Self - Soprano
	José van Dam as Self - Bass-Baritone
	Urban Malmberg as Self - Baritone
	John Aler as Self - Tenor
	Tom Krause as Self - Baritone
	Ronald Hamilton as Self - Tenor
	Peter Sellars as Self - Director

Crew