‘Technological innovations are a fascinating part of the job’

You have been working at La Monnaie for about fifteen years, and now serve the house as Head of the Sound and Video Department. What does your day-to-day look like?

My main role is to manage a team of between ten and fifteen people, depending on the production. It is my duty to make sure the work is running smoothly and to ensure the well-being of my collaborators on an everyday and long-term basis. Another important aspect of my job is the preparation of productions. From the very first stages of a project, I am involved for all things sound and video. As the former is linked to both the music and the staging, we make technical decisions and advise the director, the video artist, the sound engineer, the conductor and sometimes even the composer.

After this preparatory phase, I hand over responsibility to my closest colleagues, who take charge of the direction. They give concrete expression to the preparations during rehearsals and production, providing day-to-day supervision.

‘I tend to believe that there is a kind of soul to this opera house. When I walk in here, I feel at home.’

Did you always want to work in opera?

Yes. I studied classical sound recording in France. My ambition was to work in classical music, with a strong desire to turn to opera. I left my home region of Brittany to do an internship at the Opéra de Paris, but I didn’t want to settle there. Paris is a fantastic city for tourists, but living there over the long term is a particular choice.

I then considered working in smaller opera houses, but this seemed less interesting. Being young and wanting to travel, I decided to try my luck in Brussels. In 2008 I applied for a six-month end-of-studies internship. My first job was the production of Médée directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, where I had to place HF microphones on singers, either attached to their belts or hidden in their wigs. That is how my desire to work in opera became a reality.

What work experience did you have before joining La Monnaie?

I had already interned at the Paris Conservatoire and Musiq3, as well as with engineers as a freelance. However, La Monnaie was my first real professional experience.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced as Head of the Sound and Video Department?

I have been head of the department for five years, and the current challenge is certainly the biggest I have faced so far. With the forthcoming departure of the general director, we need to integrate the last productions and projects planned during his tenure, which are sometimes complex and demanding. We want to honour the commitments made to all the artists and ensure that their projects are carried out in a highly professional manner, but I also want to take care of the well-being of the team, which has to cope with often arduous and irregular working hours. Flexibility is essential: you have to work intensively during certain periods, then accept moments of calm for two or three weeks. This way of working affects the balance between professional and personal life.

This year, two members of my team had to face major professional difficulties. This gave me the opportunity to introduce innovative systems such as team rotas and the creation of two-person teams. The aim of these initiatives is to reduce the workload and give my teams some well-deserved time off.

What is your favourite opera?

It may be an opera that doesn’t exist yet. In December, we will be presenting Fanny and Alexander, with music composed by Mikael Karlsson. We are currently working on this project, and I am really looking forward to seeing it come to fruition. I feel excited, like before a holiday.

I was lucky enough to see an opera by the same composer in Stockholm, called Melancholia. It was the most beautiful opera I had seen for ten or twelve years. The experience was incredibly rich and overwhelming. So yes, Fanny and Alexander could well become my favourite opera!

How do you support the creation of new productions?

For us, it has a lot to do with technical developments. We strive to progress technologically and make sustainable choices. During the pandemic, for example, we had to stage a production with an orchestra located in one auditorium and a chorus in another, with no latent period, so that the musicians could play together synchronously. Meeting the challenge required real technological advances.

Supporting new productions means always being a little ahead of the potential demands of composers and directors. We need to have ready-to-use solutions. Even if we can’t buy all the equipment available today, it is essential to at least have tested it to check its effectiveness. Anticipating and trying out is a particularly interesting aspect of the job.

‘We strive to progress technologically and make sustainable choices.’

What do you like about working at La Monnaie?

It may sound a bit naive, but I tend to believe that there is a kind of soul to this opera house. When I walk in here, I feel at home. We spend a lot of time here, which gives it a slightly magical feel. When you leave home and arrive here at 9 a.m. after having stayed until 11 p.m. the night before, that feeling of familiarity lingers on. Long careers are built here, perhaps for this reason. It is a comfortable feeling, like a cocoon, a family. I think that is what a lot of artists like about La Monnaie too.

Which production particularly marked you?

I have fond memories of the first productions, particularly Médée. I remember being left fascinated and wide-eyed as I discovered the world of opera. During the waiting time between microphone set-ups, I would sneak backstage, straight to a spot from which I could watch Médée perform on stage, just five metres away from her. It was a wonderful experience, full of that joyful naivety of exploring a world I only knew from a distance. Getting close to the costumes, handling the sets, everything became tangible. These are truly precious memories.

I also really enjoyed György Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, staged by La Fura dels Baus in 2009. It was a very creative and aesthetically beautiful production. Full of humour too, not least because of the presence of a large revolving doll on stage. With instructions like ‘Watch out for the bottom’ and ‘Cue the bottom’, the atmosphere during the rehearsals was rather jovial. The doll also had these eyes that opened and came to life thanks to a video. It was really beautiful, creative and funny.

How do you feel as a woman in this position?

At college, I was in a predominantly male environment, with only three girls in a class of twenty-four. That wasn’t surprising: sound engineering is a very male-dominated field. As an intern at La Monnaie, I also started out in a rather feminine job, placing microphones on the singers, which is easier for women as they can get into the dressing rooms without it bothering anyone. When it is a man, it can sometimes feel more intrusive.

But then I built my way up with small contracts, a fixed job as a technician and then as production manager. The latter wasn’t always easy as a woman. It involves coordinating various aspects of sound and video with other departments such as Stage Management, Lighting or Props, and with no hierarchical relationship it can be difficult to make your voice heard, especially when you are young. I often heard things like, ‘Do you work in make-up?’, the kind of bias that may not be malicious but is revealing. What’s more, I have a soft voice, whereas the stagehands speak loudly, making communication difficult.

When I became head of department, the dynamic changed. I now manage a team and have been building up a relationship of trust. My immediate superior, who is also a woman, has been very supportive, making it easier for me to make my voice heard. In this house, the division of labour can still be a bit stereotypical, with the Stage Management department counting twenty-five men and only one woman, for instance, and a higher proportion of women in props. But I prefer this mixed environment to an all-female one – like at the hospital where I worked during a summer job. My tenacity helped me, and I don’t feel I had to fight any harder than others. Doing what I love has allowed me to find my way without it costing me anything.

Translation: Patrick Lennon