New programme book in my collection : 'The Flood' by Francesco Filidei in Paris

Yesterday, I have received the programme book published by the Opéra Comique in Paris for the world première of L'Inondation (The Flood), an opera composed by Francesco Filidei, first performed on September 27, 2019.

It is a 84 pages book. It contains :

- complete cast ;
- Agnès Terrier : À lire avant le spectacle ;
- Marion Boudier : Argument ;
- Intentions, interview with director Joël Pommerat and composer Francesco Filidei ;
- Éric Soyer (set designer) : Intentions scénographiques ;
- Isabelle Duffin (costume designer) : Le processus créatif des costumes ;
- Interprètes et personnages, the singers about their characters ;
- Emilio Pomàrico (conductor) : Le regard du chef d'orchestre ;
- complete and detailed orchestral setting ;
- Marion Boudier : Joël Pommerat et les compositeurs ;
- L'Inondation à l'Opéra Comique : chronological overview from the choice of the subject to the first performance ;
- complete libretto ;
- biographies of artists.

The book is entirely in French. It contains lots of colour photographs of rehearsals.

I now have 684 programme books for contemporary operas. I have scanned all the covers and uploaded the pictures to this flickr folder.

Today : world première of 'The Flood' by Francesco Filidei in Paris

Today, the Opéra Comique in Paris presents the world première of L'Inondation (The Flood), an opera in two acts composed by Francesco Filidei, with a libretto in French by Joël Pommerat, after Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel.

It is the composer's second opera after Giordano Bruno, first performed in Porto in December 2015.

As they cannot give birth to a child, a woman and her husband decide to adopt an orphan girl. The teenager gets an unexpected place in their home and in their hearts.
In a suburb of Saint Petersburg, the wife and husband hardly speak to each other and silence is becoming heavy. The world imagined by the wife to overcome the sadness of her emotional life will go wrong while in this end of winter the water of the river is rising. (reproduced from the Opéra Comique website)

The cast includes mezzo Chloé Briot (The Woman), baritone Boris Grappe (The Man), tenor Enguerrand de Hys (The Male Neighbor), mezzo Yael Raanan-Vandor (The Female Neighbor) and bass Vincent Le Texier (The Doctor). Emilio Pomarico conducts the Children Chorus of the Opéra Comique and the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France. Joël Pommerat directs.

The work is published by UMPG (Universal Music Publishing Classical). The required orchestra is the following :

- 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 1 saxophone ;
- 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tuba ;
- 4 percussionists ;
- piano, celesta, harp, accordion ;
- strings (at least 8.6.4.4.3).

The performance should last about 2 hours and 15 minutes, without intermission.

Today : world première of 'Giordano Bruno' by Francesco Filidei in Porto

Today, Giordano Bruno, the new opera composed by Francesco Filidei, with a libretto by Stefano Busellato, will be performed in Porto, at the Casa da Musica.

 
The libretto (in 12 scenes) is based on the life of the 16th century Italian philosopher who claimed the sun was the center of the universe. He ultimately was burned at the stake.

The action is divided between the chronology of Giordano Bruno's trial and scenes directly inspired by his philosophy. Each scene is composed around one note. From the first scene centered on F sharp, each scene related to the trial is half a tone lower, and each scene related to his philosophy is half a tone higher, starting with G. (reproduced from the website dedicated to the work)

The opera should last about 90 minutes. After rehearsals in Gennevilliers near Paris (the opera is a commission of the French group T&M), the opera will receive its first performance in Porto, with baritone Lionel Peintre (Giordano Bruno), tenor Jeff Martin (1st Inquisitor), bass Ivan Ludlow (2nd Inquisitor) and countertenor Guilhem Terrail (Pope Clemente VIII). The Remix Ensemble and a 12 voices chorus are conducted by Peter Rundel, with Antoine Gindt directing.

The same production will then be performed in Strasbourg (Musica Festival, September 19th and 20th), Reggio Emilia (Teatro Valli, September 26th), Milan (Piccolo Teatro Strehler, November 7th). The tour will end in April 2016 with four performances in Gennevilliers (from 14th to 21st) and in Caen on 26th.