Today : world première of Kaija Saariaho's 'Innocence' in Aix-en-Provence

 

Today, the Festival International d'Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence presents the world première of Innocence, an opera in five acts composed by Kaija Saariaho with an original Finnish libretto by Sofi Oksanen and a multilingual libretto by Aleksi Barrière (Finnish, Czech, Romanian, French and English).

 

It is the composer's fifth opera after L'Amour de loin (Salzburg, August 15, 2000), Adriana Mater (Paris, April 3, 2006), Émilie (Lyon, March 1, 2010) and Only the Sound Remains (Amsterdam, March 15, 2016).

It is a typical wedding for a cosmopolitan city, in present-day Finland. The fiancé is Finnish, the bride Romanian, and the mother-in-law French. But suddenly, during the wedding banquet, the Czech waitress feels ill… Ten years earlier, these characters were struck by a tragic event. Ghosts revive their memories of the trauma, which occurred in a school; there is a guilty haze, a lost innocence. (reproduced from the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence website)

The cast includes mezzo Magdalena Kozena (The Waitress Tereza), soprano Lilian Farahani (The Bride Stela), soprano Sandrine Piau (The Mothe-in-Law Patricia), tenor Markus Nykänen (The Bridegroom Tuomas), baritone Tuomas Pursio (The Father-in-Law Henrik) and bass baritone Jukka Rasilainen (The Priest). Susanna Mälkki conducts the London Symphony Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Simon Stone directs.

The score is published by Chester Music. The required orchestra is the following :

- 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons ;

- 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tuba ;

- timpani and 4 percussions ;

- harp, piano and celesta ;

- strings (14.12.10.8.6).

The performance should last 1 hour and 45 minutes.The venue is the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

 

Today : world première of 'The Sleeping Thousand' by Adam Maor in Aix-en-Provence

Today, the Festival Internationl d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence presents the world première of The Sleeping Thousand, a chamber opera composed by Adam Maor, with a libretto in Hebrew by Yonatan Levy.

It is the composer's first opera.

A thousand administrative prisoners are on a hunger strike. The Prime Minister decides to plunge them into a sleep which will distract international attention. And that is when the thousand sleepers cause the Israeli people insomnia. Consequently, it becomes urgent to send an emissary into the world of dreams… (reproduced from the Festival website)

The cast includes baritone Tomasz Kumiega (Prime Minister), soprano Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod (Nurit), bass David Salsbery Fry (S) and tenor Benjamin Alunni (Minister of Agriculture). Elena Schwarz conducts the United Instruments of Lucilin. Yonatan Levy directs.

The performance should last 75 minutes, with no interval.

The venue is the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume.

The opera will subsequently be performed in Luxembourg.

Today : world première of 'Seven Stones' by Ondrej Adamek in Aix-en-Provence

Today, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence presents the world première of Seven Stones, an 'opera for 4 soloists and 12 choir singers playing instruments and objects', by Ondřej Adámek, with a libretto in English by Icelandic poet Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (also known as Sjón).

It is the composer's first opera.

A mineralogist-collector who has got lost down a snowy lane remembers: many years earlier, he had gone in search of the first stone – the one that was almost used to stone to death the adulterous woman who was saved by Christ. During this seven-year long journey that takes him from Buenos Aires to Paris and from Japan to Iceland, the collector discovered many other stones... And the end of his journey leads to the conclusion of his quest – and to tragedy. (reproduced from the Festival website)

The cast includes soprano Anne-Emmanuelle Davy (Maid / Storyteller), soprano Shigeko Hata (Land Lady / Storyteller), baritone Nicolas Simeha (Stone Collector) and singer Landy Andriamboavonjy (Stone Collector's Wife). Ondřej Adámek conducts the Accentus / Axe 21 chorus. Éric Oberdorff directs.

The performance should last about 80 minutes. The venue is the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume.

Today : world première of Philippe Boesmans' 'Pinocchio' in Aix-en-Provence

Today, the Festival International d'Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence presents the world première of the opera Pinocchio, composed by Philippe Boesmans, with a libretto by Joël Pommerat after Carlo Collodi.

It is the seventh opera composed by Boesmans, after La Passion de Gilles (1983), Reigen (1993), Wintermärchen (1999), Julie (2005), Yvonne Princesse de Bourgogne (2009) and Au Monde (2014).

Pinocchio is a rude and insolent person, eschewing all sentimentality to reconnect with the harsh world that Collodi portrays in his book. (reproduced from the Aix-en-Provence festival website)

The cast includes baritone Stéphane Degout (Le directeur de troupe / Le directeur de cirque), bass baritone Vincent Le Texier (La père / Le maître d'école), tenor Yann Beuron (Le directeur de cabaret / Le juge), mezzo Julie Boulianne (La chanteuse de cabaret) and soprano Marie-Eve Munger (La fée). Emilio Pomarico conducts the Klangforum Wien. Joël Pommerat directs.

The score is published by Éditions Jobert. The required orchestra is the following :

- 1 flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute), 1 oboe (doubling English horn), 1 clarinet (doubling bass clarinet) and 1 bassoon (doubling contrabassoon) ;
- 2 horns, 1 trumpet, 1 trombone ;
- harp and piano (doubling celesta) ;
- 3 percussionists ;
- strings.

The performance should last about 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one interval.

There will be further performance in Brussels (September 2017), Dijon (October 2017) and Bordeaux (May 2018). Other operas inspired by Collodi's story include works by Jonathan Dove, Pierangelo Valtinoni and Sergio Menozzi.

Received in the mail this Thursday morning

This Thursday morning, I have received the following in the mail :

- Aix-en-Provence, Festival : 2014 program book ;
- Chemnitz, Theater : July 2014 leaflet ;
- Kaiserslautern, Pfalztheater : 2014-2015 season program book ;
- Montepllier, Festival de Radio France : 2014 program book.

I have also downloaded the program book for the world première of Robin Stokes' opera Pauline (first performed on May 23rd), available on the website of the City Opera Vancouver :
http://cityoperavancouver.com/pauline/pauline-programme