Pinocchio (Boesmans)
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| Title: | Pinocchio |
Image from the first version of the book, 1883 |
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| Shape: | Opera |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Philippe Boesmans |
| Libretto : | Joël Pommerat |
| Literary source: | Carlo Collodi : Pinocchio |
| Premiere: | 3rd July 2017 |
| Place of premiere: | Grand Théâtre de Provence Aix-en-Provence |
| Playing time: | about 2 hours |
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Pinocchio is an opera by Philippe Boesmans (music) with a libretto by Joël Pommerat based on Carlo Collodis Pinocchio . The world premiere took place on July 3, 2017 at the Grand Théâtre de Provence Aix-en-Provence.
action
prolog
The director of the theater company turns to the audience and announces that they will tell the full story. He reveals that he was blind as a child but could still see with his "inner eye". Today his theater company will help him tell the pure truth.
In the house around in the father's garden
A man never had a child or a wife because of his shyness. Instead, he only talks to a tree in front of his house. One day when it was overturned by a storm, he carved a human figure out of one of the branches to keep him company: a jumping jack . Even as this is taking shape, he begins to speak and show feelings.
The jumping jack is hungry and asks for food - but his "father" is too poor to be able to give him anything. After a while the jumping jack gets bored. The father explains to him the advantages of school education, which is a prerequisite for being able to work and earn money. The jumping jack decides to go to school, but is not satisfied with his father's old textbook. In order to buy him a new book, the father sells his coat.
On the way to school - the fairground booth
The jumping jack passes a fairground stall where two scammers approach him and persuade him that the school is dangerous. They offer him a ticket to the cabaret, which he pays for with his school book. In the theater he is so impressed by a singer that he goes on stage and harasses her. Because of the scandal that this caused, he was taken to the director of the cabaret. The jumping jack tells him his life story. The director is so touched by this that he sneezes and gives him a lot of money. He dismisses the jumping jack with a warning to take good care of it.
The field of miracles - the judgment - the prison
The jumping jack meets the two fraudsters again. They trick him out and find out about the money. Then they tell him about a "field of blue wonders", where he can easily multiply his wealth. He has to bury the money there and then leave so that a tree with banknotes can grow from this seed overnight. The next morning the jumping jack realizes too late that he has been tricked. To get his money back, he turned to a judge, who did not help him, but sentenced him to ten months in prison for his gullibility. There he longs for his father.
After his release from custody, the jumping jack meets three murderers at night who tell him that they are out for money and that they are just beating up poor people. Still, the jumping jack claims that he is rich. Even when a woman warns him about this lie, he sticks to it. To force him to give them this money, the murderers hang him on a tree and strangle him for hours until they think he is dead and leave.
With the fairy - at school
Since the jumping jack is made of wood, he survived the ordeal. When he wakes up, the woman, a fairy, is with him. She calls him “Pinocchio” and explains to him that all his misfortune would never have happened if he had gone to school. Besides, his father would miss him. Pinocchio tells her lies about his life. After each one, his nose grows in length. Only when he recognizes the connection and promises to stop lying does the fairy heal him. She promises him that she will turn him into a real boy when he goes to school.
The narrator wonders if Pinocchio can really change and will go to school every day. But in fact Pinocchio turns out to be the best student in the class. He doesn't even allow himself to be distracted by the disturbing bad student who questions the teacher's authority. After six months, the fairy reappears and tells him that she will use her magical powers as a reward to bring him to life. He should say that to all his friends and celebrate with them.
In the land of lust for life - in the circus
Pinocchio would also like to invite the bad student to his party. But he is not impressed by the prospect of fruit juice. Instead, he plans to run away. Around midnight, a van will come and take it to a better place "where life pulsates". There is no school there, but a party every day. When the vehicle arrives, Pinocchio makes a quick decision.
In the “land of lust for life” everything is initially as promised. The children are having a great time. But after a few months, they find that they are gradually turning into donkeys. A man whom they had previously taken to be their friend explains to them that he is actually a donkey seller and that he will sell them to the highest bidder. A ringmaster buys the Pinocchio donkey to train it - but Pinocchio turns out to be unsuitable for it. The ringmaster therefore sells it to a drum maker who wants to string his drums with donkey skin. This throws Pinocchio into the sea to kill him gently.
In the belly of the whale
Pinocchio transforms itself back into the sea. He sees an object in the water and escapes on it. But shortly afterwards he realizes that he has landed in the belly of a huge whale. Here, surprisingly, he also finds his father again. Since the whale has swallowed many things over the years, the father finds it very pleasant there. He's never been this rich and would love to stay. But Pinocchio wants to go back to the world. He is bored and has long conversations to himself at night. In doing so, he notices that the whale is getting restless from his chatter. Through this weakness, he can get the whale to spit him and his father out. Back on land, the jumping jack gradually transforms into a real boy who now officially bears the name "Pinocchio".
layout
The opera consists of 23 scenes with instrumental transitions. The sound language is almost entirely melodic, cantable and tonal . Only in the interludes are there alienation effects reminiscent of Stravinsky . Three stage musicians (violin, saxophone and accordion) complement additional style elements from hits, operettas and Balkan folklore as well as improvised passages. The reviewer of the Deutsche Bühne described the music as "utility music in the best sense". Boesmans' “neo-romantic style” would “never be dogmatic, but rather [come] with a certain distance”. The opera reminded the reviewer of the Belgian Radio of the works of Benjamin Britten . He also recognized a reminiscence of Massenet's opera Manon . Even the reviewer of the Opernwelt magazine was not bothered by the “rampantly eclectic amalgam of styles, modules, bonds”, but compared the score with a “ palimpsest ” that describes a “world of (musical) diversity”, an “art of alienation that absorbs other things in order to transform them effectively into one's own ”. Each scene is assigned its own typical sound language. The woodcarver's saw at the beginning of the opera is accompanied by humming brass instruments, and the growth of Pinocchio's name by a rising siren.
orchestra
The opera's orchestra is made up of chamber music:
- Woodwinds : flute (also piccolo and alto flute), oboe (also english horn ), clarinet (also bass clarinet ), bassoon (also contrabassoon)
- Brass : two horns , trumpet , trombone
- harp
- Piano (also celesta )
- Percussion (three players)
- Strings : two violins 1, two violins 2, viola , violoncello
- Stage music: saxophone , accordion , violin
Work history
Philippe Boesmans ' opera Pinocchio was commissioned by the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie Brussels. The Opéra de Dijon and the Opéra National de Bordeaux were also involved in the premiere production. The composition was funded by the French Ministry of Culture .
Joël Pommerat's libretto is based on Carlo Collodi's well-known children's story Pinocchio from 1881. Pommerat had already brought the material to the stage in 2008 as a play. After Au monde from 2014, the opera version is his second collaboration with the composer Boesmans.
The world premiere on July 3, 2017 at the Grand Théâtre de Provence Aix-en-Provence was directed by Joël Pommerat. The stage and lighting design were by Éric Soyer , the costumes by Isabelle Deffin and the video projections by Renaud Rubiano. Emilio Pomàrico conducted the soloist ensemble Klangforum Wien . The musicians Tcha Limberger (violin), Fabrizio Cassol (saxophone) and Philippe Thuriot (accordion) played on stage. It sang Stéphane Degout (director of the troupe u. A.), Vincent Le Texier (Father & a..), Chloé Briot (puppet), Yann Beuron (second cheat & a..), Julie Boulianne (cabaret singer u. A.) And Marie-Eve Munger (Fee). A recording was broadcast on the radio on France Musique and made available as a video on Arte Concert .
With the premiere in Brussels on September 5, 2017 with the same ensemble, the opera house there reopened after two years of renovation. The Belgian royal couple also appeared at the performance. The New York Times reviewer noted that the most tumultuous applause after the performance went to the 81-year-old composer and that his opera Pinocchio was undoubtedly a "hit".
Web links
- Philippe Boesman's Pinocchio - Carnet pédagogique. Educational program for the world premiere production (French, PDF)
- Roberto Becker: Lies have long noses. Review of the premiere in Aix-en-Provence
- “Pinocchio” by Philippe Boesmans at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. Video stream at Arte Concert
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Georg Rudiger: Pubescent monster instead of rascal. In: Die Deutsche Bühne on July 4, 2017, accessed on November 7, 2017.
- ↑ a b c Premiere of the new Boesmans opera “Pinocchio” in the Monnaie. In: BRF -Nachrichten from September 6, 2017, accessed on November 7, 2017.
- ↑ Jürgen Otten: Who looked at freedom with eyes. In: Opernwelt from September / October 2017, p. 20.
- ^ A b Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheimsept: Review: "Pinocchio," the Opera, Is a Hit for a Renovated Theater. In: New York Times, September 7, 2017, accessed November 7, 2017.
- ↑ Pinocchio. Work information from Verlag Lemoine, accessed on November 6, 2017.
- ↑ a b c Pinocchio. World premiere at the Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, accessed on November 7, 2017.
- ^ "Pinocchio" by Philippe Boesmans at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. Video stream at Arte Concert , accessed on November 7, 2017.