La princesse légère
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| Title: | La princesse légère |
George MacDonald: The Light Princess. Title page of the 1890 edition |
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| Shape: | Opera for children in two acts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Violeta Cruz |
| Libretto : | Gilles Rico |
| Literary source: |
George MacDonald : The Light Princess |
| Premiere: | December 13, 2017 |
| Place of premiere: | Opera de Lille |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ¼ hours |
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La princesse légère (German: "The Light Princess") is an opera for children in two acts and twelve scenes by Violeta Cruz (music) with a libretto by Gilles Rico based on the fairy tale The Light Princess (1867) by George MacDonald . It premiered on December 13, 2017 at the Opéra de Lille .
action
After a long wait, a royal couple finally has a child, a little girl. Out of joy, they hold a big baptism celebration to which they invite relatives from all over the world. However, the king forgets his sister, the Princess Folerpès ("mad scabies"), an old unfriendly witch. This takes revenge by adding something to the baptismal water unnoticed and bewitching the little princess. The nurse did not notice the effects of the curse until a few months later, when the baby was blown away by a breeze through the open window: it was weightless. The princess grows up in this state and laughs at every little thing. She just can't smile.
Out of concern for their child, the king and queen consult two famous doctors: Doctor Malofoi ("body ache") and Doctor Déjanthé ("crazy"). They make complicated diagnoses and then explain that the only way to resolve the curse is to let the princess cry.
During a party at the lake, the princess falls into the water and notices that she can feel her weight in it. From that day on, she spends a lot of time swimming and appears almost normal.
A strange prince appears at the royal court looking for a suitable bride. All the princesses he had met during his long journey had a flaw. But when he meets the weightless princess at the lake, he falls in love with her on the spot, and they meet every night. The witch, angry about this development, ensures that the lake dries up with another curse. The princess is desperate. She no longer laughs, eats or sleeps and withdraws from all people. Then a writing was discovered on the bottom of the lake, according to which the water will arise anew out of love and death. The prince realizes that a sacrifice is needed. He is ready to drown himself in order to save the lake and his beloved. He pretends to be her shoe shine to her parents and explains that the princess has to watch the lake fill up until his eyes are covered by the water. That's how it happens. When the prince drowns, the princess bursts into tears. The curse is released, the prince comes back to life and the princess receives her gravity. She smiles for the first time. It's starting to rain.
layout
The work consists of two musically differently designed parts. The first act, in which the rhythm plays the leading role, represents the joy of life and the play of the princess as a child. In the second part, which shows the emotions of the grown young woman, harmony takes the main role.
The cast of the opera provides four vocal parts, two actors, ten musicians and electronics. A string quintet with two violins , viola , violoncello and double bass , a flute , a clarinet , a trombone , an accordion and a percussionist play in the instrumental ensemble .
In an interview, the composer explained some of her compositional ideas: The percussion instruments are diverse and also contain a number of everyday objects, including two different wine glasses, plastic lids and paper cups that are used as "sound pairs" of different pitches. The rubbing tones when the prince shines shoes are created by a brush on styrofoam, cardboard, paper and a tambourine . When the king hesitates to go to his sister, his "blockade" is shown by a walking bass .
The “confusing” singing of the king, who cannot find his words, is inspired by the improvisation of the singer and double bass player Fantazio. The princess' song is not intended as a "technical demonstration", but rather, as with the South American songs, is intended to express the "joy of singing" itself. The ambivalent character of the royal sister as a witch and old lady corresponds musically to a mixed voice of female and male timbres, which was carefully rehearsed with the singer Guy-Loup Boisneau. Laughter plays a big role in opera. For the sound of the princess as a toddler, the composers used the recorded laughter of a real baby. The laugh of adolescents is treated in a highly differentiated way: "More or less sung, cheeky, mocking, hysterical, laughs that sometimes detach themselves from the end of a word, a sigh, or one that turns into a jumping musical note on the violin." In two places the entire orchestra “laughs”, and the electronics are also used to generate “human laughing tones”.
The music also contains various musical allusions. The walking bass already mentioned comes from jazz. Further quotations come from Mozart's Magic Flute , Offenbach's Hoffmann's Tales , Janáček's Smart Fox and Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges .
Work history
The family opera La princesse légère by the Colombian composer Violeta Cruz was created in 2017 on behalf of the Paris Opéra-Comique .
The libretto is by Gilles Rico. It is based on the fairy tale The Light Princess by George MacDonald , which appeared in his fairy tale collection Dealings with the Fairies in 1867 .
The world premiere was a co-production of the Opéra-Comique with the Opéra de Lille , the Ircam-Center Pompidou and the Ensemble Court-Circuit. The postponed reopening of the renovated Opéra-Comique also affected the premiere planned for Paris. It therefore took place on December 13, 2017, nine months after the originally planned date, at the Opéra de Lille. The directors were Jos Houben and Emily Wilson. Oria Puppo was responsible for the set and decoration, and Nicolas Simonin for the lighting. The electronic music of the IRCAM was realized by Augustin Muller. Jean Deroyer directed the Court-circuit ensemble. The singers were Jeanne Crousaud (Princess), Majdouline Zerari (Queen), Nicholas Merryweather (King) and Jean-Jacques L'Anthoën (Prince). The actors Kate Colebrook and Guy-Loup Boisneau also took part.
The work was performed in Paris with the same cast as part of the “Folies de jeunesse” festival from March 9th to 11th, 2018. A video recording was made available on the Operavision Internet platform.
The production received positive reviews. The Forumopera reviewer wrote that the composer was successful where others struggled. Her music is completely modern, but never aggressive. She knows how to touch the audience or make them laugh and occasionally affords the "luxury" of some melodic and memorable moments. The critic of Classicagenda found the “sound universe” of the composer and the performer “extraordinarily successful”. For the musical accompaniment of the witch of the opera, they had created a "true tonal leitmotif" that guaranteed a very distinctive villain, which Alfred Hitchcock , the master of suspense , would certainly have approved. The ResMusica reviewer found the music "imaginative and well-proportioned" and compared it to "lots of pixels of colors, rhythms and textures". One is both "seduced by so many good ideas that ensure the fluidity of the drama", and somewhat annoyed by a "stream of words that sometimes unnecessarily extends the length of the scenes". A little more intensive directing work could have tightened everything up.
Web links
- La Princesse légère at Operavision. Video available until July 17, 2018
- La princesse légère: rencontre avec Violeta Cruz et Jos Houben, episode 1. Conversation with the composer, video from IRCAM (French with English subtitles) on YouTube
- La princesse légère: rencontre avec Violeta Cruz et Jos Houben, episode 2. Conversation with the composer, video from IRCAM (French with English subtitles) on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ Designation of the voices according to the score at Babelscores . Distribution of roles according to the casting of the premiere.
- ↑ a b c d e La Princesse légère at Operavision. Video available until July 17, 2018, accessed June 18, 2018.
- ↑ a b information on works at IRCAM , accessed on June 18, 2018.
- ^ Caroline Alexander: La Princesse Légère de Violeta Cruz. Review of the performance at the Opéra-Comique (French). In: Webtheatre, March 12, 2018, accessed June 18, 2018.
- ↑ a b Performance information of the Opéra de Lille , accessed on June 18, 2018.
- ↑ a b Performance information from the Opéra-Comique Paris , accessed on June 18, 2018.
- ↑ Reopening of the Opéra Comique theater delayed on paris-classical-concerts.com, accessed on June 18, 2018.
- ^ A b Laurent Bury: La Princesse légère - Lille. Review of the performance in Lille (French) on forumopera.com , December 13, 2017, accessed June 18, 2018.
- ↑ Cinzia Rota: La Princesse légère de Violeta Cruz: nuages de rire et déferlements de terreur. Review of the performance at the Opéra-Comique (French). In: Classicagenda, March 13, 2018, accessed on June 18, 2018.
- ↑ Michèle Tosi: La Princesse légère de Violeta Cruz donnée à Lille en création mondiale. Review of the performance in Lille (French). In: Webtheatre, December 20, 2017, accessed June 18, 2018.