Trois contes (opera)
| Opera dates | |
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| Title: | Trois contes |
| Shape: | Chamber opera in three parts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Gérard Pesson |
| Libretto : | David Lescot |
| Literary source: |
Hans Christian Andersen : The Princess and the Pea , Lorenza Foschini : Il cappotto di Proust, Edgar Allan Poe : The Devil in the Belfry |
| Premiere: | March 6, 2019 |
| Place of premiere: | Opera de Lille |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ½ hours |
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Trois contes (German roughly: 'Three stories') is a chamber opera in three parts by Gérard Pesson (music) with a libretto by David Lescot based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Princess and the Pea , Lorenza Foschini's novel Il cappotto di Proust ( Proust's coat ) and Edgar Allan Poe's tale The Devil in the Belfry ( The Devil in the Bell Tower ). It premiered on March 6, 2019 at the Opéra de Lille .
action
the princess and the Pea
To find a suitable bride, the prince traveled all over the world. However, since not a single princess has turned out to be "real", he returns to his parents without having achieved anything. He explains to his father that the difference between real and fake princesses is indefinable and that you can only recognize them when you see them. When a violent thunderstorm breaks out, the doors are locked. Shortly thereafter, a completely soaked girl knocks on the door. She introduces herself as a princess and asks for accommodation. The queen is preparing a bed for her from twenty mattresses stacked on top of one another and twenty duvets. She puts a pea under the pile. The next morning she asks the princess about her sleep. She replies that she couldn't close an eye because there was something hard under her bed. The queen happily explains to her son that only a real princess is so sensitive. The prince then asks her for her hand. The pea is on display at the Musée Carnavalet to prove the truth of the story.
The fairy tale is told a total of six times in different variations. While the initial version, the theme (No. 1), is accompanied by fast mechanical music, the music of the first variation (No. 2) is slow but uses a shortened text. The following variation (# 3) is a fast run-through. This is followed by a scenically identical version with changed text and music (No. 3 a). The fifth variation (No. 4) is reminiscent of a musical with its positive song sequence . The last variation (No. 5) is a negative version of the fairy tale in which everyone is dissatisfied, the princess falls asleep from tiredness despite the pea and is then thrown out as a strange vagabond.
Proust's coat
A museum guide leads some visitors through the Musée Carnavalet, in which some objects from the estate of Marcel Proust are on display - including the simple bed in which most of his novel In Search of Lost Time was created. Only his coat cannot be shown as it is kept in a box in the depot due to its poor condition. Flashbacks show how the museum came into possession of the objects: the perfume maker and collector Jacques Guérin is treated by Proust's brother Robert . Guérin's secretary shows Robert around the perfume factory. She explains to him a perfume organ with which all the company's creations can be compiled from their basic fragrances. After Guérin's healing, Robert shows him his brother's desk and library, which he has owned since his death. Robert's wife Marthe Dubois tells Guérin over dinner that she is not interested in these things and that she wants to burn everything while cleaning up. When Guérin was browsing in a junk shop, he learned from the seller, a Mr. Werner, that Proust's manuscripts had just been bought there and that his furniture had also been offered to him. Robert had died and his widow had to vacate the apartment. Werner sells the furniture to Guérin for 1,500 francs. Guérin found a few more books in the apartment and asked Werner to look for more manuscripts. After reading Proust's texts with great pleasure, he asked Werner again about other subjects. Werner tells him that he had received his coat from Proust's wife, but it was in poor condition. He gives it to Guérin. He finds some references to the coat in the manuscripts. Werner indicates that he had a relationship with Proust's wife.
The devil in the bell tower
Supported by a six-part vocal ensemble, an actor tells an incident from the Dutch village of Vondervotteimittiss, which lies in a valley surrounded by hills. The residents live in sixty identical houses and have no interest whatsoever in the outside world, as they do not believe that anything is behind the hills. The days pass with extraordinary uniformity: the women cook sauerkraut and pork in a large cauldron, the three boys smoke pipes in the garden, and the little round men watch the clock in the bell tower. The tower is looked after by the watchman, the most respected person in the village, although the clock has always been sounding reliably at every hour. Three decisions were recently passed in the council: nothing should be changed in the “good old way of things”, there is “nothing good” outside the village and “we swear allegiance to our watches and cabbages”. The day before yesterday, however, shortly before twelve o'clock a strange-looking man with worn shoes appeared on the eastern hill and rode towards the village. He immediately aroused suspicion among the villagers, who turned into annoyance when he shamelessly began to dance. His goal was obviously the bell tower. At noon the bell struck thirteen times. Now the intruder must be thrown out and order restored collectively.
layout
The three parts of the opera merge into one another without a break. Although the stories are different in themselves, there are elements and themes in common, such as the figure of the stranger - the princess in the first part, the one in his own family like a stranger to Marcel Proust in the second part, and the calm of the village disturbing devils in the third part. The Musée Carnavalet , in which the pea is exhibited at the end of the first part, is also the repository of Marcel Proust's coat at the beginning of the second part. Each part explores a different relationship between word and music.
music
The music contains a multitude of short quotations from other musical works such as Puccini's Madama Butterfly , Richard Strauss' Rosenkavalier or short phrases that are reminiscent of composers such as Anton Bruckner or Robert Schumann . As a rule, they are directly linked to certain words in the libretto. In every variation of the first part, the arrival of the prince is characterized by a motif from Also Spoke Zarathustra . For the princess, Pesson uses a motif from Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges , and in the last (“black”) variation he parodies Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande . The music of the second part is characterized by a piercing and pale ("lancinant et pâle") woodwind motif. A toccata reminiscent of Monteverdi leads to the third part. Its accompanying music contains quotations from Mozart's Magic Flute as well as from György Ligeti and Igor Stravinsky . A motif from the Scherzo of Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony will be heard at the arrival of the devil .
orchestra
The following instruments played at the premiere:
- Woodwinds : flutes (one player), oboe , clarinets (one player), bassoon (also contrabassoon )
- Brass : horn , trumpet , trombone
- Percussion (three players)
- two pianos (1st and 3rd percussion, 2nd also celesta )
- Strings : two violins , two violas , two cellos , two double basses
Work history
Gérard Pesson's chamber opera Trois contes was commissioned by the Opéra de Lille . It is his third stage work after Forever Valley (2000) and Pastorale (2009). The world premiere production was realized as a co-production with the Opéra de Rouen, the Opéra de Rennes and the Angers-Nantes Opéra. The libretto is by David Lescot . It is a free adaptation of three different stories, which were put together by the authors in the manner of a triptych : the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen , the novel Il cappotto di Proust ( Proust's coat ) by Lorenza Foschini and the story The Devil in the Belfry ( The Devil in the Bell Tower ) by Edgar Allan Poe .
The world premiere took place on March 6, 2019 with the Ictus Ensemble under the musical direction of Georges-Elie Octors at the Opéra de Lille. The production was staged by librettist David Lescot with a stage design by Alwyne de Dardel, costumes by Mariane Delayre, lighting design by Paul Beaureilles and videos by Serge Meyer. The actors were Camille Merckx (queen, princess mother , Guérin's secretary, hostess), Marc Mauillon (king, prince father , Jacques Guérin, watchman of the bell tower), Enguerrand de Hys (prince, Werner, boy), Maïlys de Villoutreys (the princess, visitor, library , Boy), Melody Louledjian (the other princess, maid, museum guide, Marthe Dubois, boy), Jean-Gabriel Saint Martin (servant, Robert Proust, curator of the museum, master of the house), Sung Im Her (dancer / choreographer) and Jos Houben (narrator). A video recording of the production was made available on the Operavision internet platform.
Recordings
- 2019 - Georges-Elie Octors (conductor), Ictus Ensemble , David Lescot (staging), Alwyne de Dardel (stage), Mariane Delayre (costumes), Paul Beaureilles (lighting), Serge Meyer (video).
Camille Merckx (Queen, Prince Mother, Guérin's Secretary, Hostess), Marc Mauillon (King, Prince Father , Jacques Guérin, Bell Tower Guardian ), Enguerrand de Hys (Prince, Werner, Boy), Maïlys de Villoutreys (The Princess, Visitor, Library, Boy) , Melody Louledjian (the other princess, maid, museum guide, Marthe Dubois, boy), Jean-Gabriel Saint Martin (servant, Robert Proust, curator of the museum, master of the house), Sung Im Her (dancer / choreographer) and Jos Houben ( Narrator)
Recording of the world premiere production from the Opéra de Lille .
Video stream at Operavision.
Web links
- Work information and video stream at Operavision, video available until September 13, 2019
- Brief information , program and dossier pédagogique of the Opéra de Lille (French, PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Voices after the cast of the premiere.
- ↑ Interpretation notes from the librettist David Lescot on the Operavision website. The numbers of the individual variations shown in the video differ from its explanations and are given here in brackets.
- ↑ a b c work information and video stream at Operavision, video available until September 13, 2019.
- ↑ Work information on the Fedora platform , accessed on May 8, 2019.
- ↑ Par Yannick Boussaert: Le beau est toujours bizarre. Review of the world premiere production on forumopera.com , March 6, 2019, accessed on May 8, 2019.
- ↑ a b Michèle Tosi: L'humour et le merveilleux dans Trois contes de Gérard Pesson à Lille. Review of the world premiere production on resmusica.com, accessed May 8, 2019.
- ↑ a b information on the work on the website of the Ictus Ensemble , accessed on May 8, 2019.
- ↑ Performance information of the Opéra de Lille , accessed on May 8, 2019.
- ↑ Information on the world premiere at France Musique , accessed on May 8, 2019.