" – Peu importe d’où l’on vient. Il n’y a pas de tonique. Le thème et son développement ne sont qu’un mirage…
Il y a une musique toujours inattendue.
– Et les dissonances ?
– Dieu les a créées, elles aussi…"
Jaume Cabré - "Voyage d'hiver" - 2014

”La terre, il se pourrait bien après tout que ce soit une espèce
de merveilleux petit appareil enregistreur, plaçé là par on ne sait qui,
pour capter tous les bruits qui circulent mystérieusement dans l’Univers.”
Pierre Reverdy - ”En vrac” - 1929

”J’entends tous les bruits de la terre grâce à mes oreilles et mes nerfs de cristal
dans lesquels circulent le feu du ciel et celui des volcans.”
Michel Leiris - ”Le point cardinal” - 1927

"L'écoute, c'est l'ombre de la composition"
Pascal Dusapin - 2008

 

Affichage des articles dont le libellé est opera. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est opera. Afficher tous les articles

30/09/2025

TPNY Memory

 

"T.P.NY Memory"

a 2013's musical piece by  Jean Jacques Palix
on a three acts' libretto by Leyli Daryoush

L'atelier de la création - France Culture

Avec :
Eve Couturier, narrator in french language
Niaz Nawab, soprane in farsi language
Karima Nayt, mezzo in english language
Carol Robinson, bass clarinet
Vincent Segal, cello
Jean Jacques Palix, composition, electronic

Composée sous forme de Hörspiel, la pièce de Jean Jacques Palix, par son instrumentation et sa mise en ondes, s'appuie sur le jeu des trois langues - français, anglais et persan (farsi) - présentes dans l'écriture du livret original de Leyli Daryoush.
Dans chacune des trois villes où se situe l'action - Téhéran, Paris, New-York -  se joue la réminiscence flottante  d'une  jeune femme iranienne  – protagoniste du récit - qui  se heurte à une racine originelle; elle observe la souffrance muette de la mère, elle affronte la vérité de l’amant par le trou d’une serrure ; elle découvre le secret troublé dans le roman égaré du père.
Engloutie dans les fils du temps et de l’espace, la mémoire voyageuse traverse l’histoire de sa propre vie pour y trouver un territoire apatride, un plateau vide où s’éparpillent les vestiges d’un passé illusoire.
 
La pièce s'inscrit, par son récit en trois actes,  dans  une réflexion postmoderne  liée aux questions du déracinement et  de l'exil , de la solitude et de la nostalgie.
 
***
 
Composed by Palix in the form of a Hörspiel, through its instrumentation and staging, "TPNY memory" draws on the interplay of three languages — French, English, and Farsi — present in the original libretto by Leyli Daryoush. 
In each of the three cities where the action takes place — Tehran, Paris, New York — the floating reminiscence of a young Iranian woman —the protagonist of the story— plays out as she encounters an original root; she observes her mother's silent suffering, she confronts her lover's truth through a keyhole; she discovers the troubled secret in her father's lost novel. Engulfed in the threads of time and space, the traveling memory crosses her own's history of life to find a stateless territory, an empty set scattered with the vestiges of an illusory past. 
 
The play, through its three-act narrative, is part of a postmodern reflection linked to the questions of uprooting and exile, solitude and nostalgia.



PROLOGUE
Les prophétesses du temps
ACTE UN
Paris: L'exil (perte du jardin idyllique pour l’univers béton d’un appartement parisien.)
ACTE DEUX
Téhéran: La Lune (rencontre amoureuse et bassidjis qui débarquent avec les matraques, fuite de tout le monde.)
Paris: La Porte (monologue devant une porte de salle de bains. Drogue et fumée derrière cette porte.)
New York: La Table  (oubli de tout et fuite en avant. Traces de la mémoire dans le marc du café.)
ACTE TROIS
Paris: Le Téléphone (Père qui n’a existé qu’à travers une voix de téléphone.)
New York: Le Roman (Découverte du roman du père, roman qui révèle la vérité de l’histoire à venir.)


La première diffusion de cette pièce a eu lieu le jeudi 2 mai 2013 sur France Culture.
Ce projet a bénéficié du soutien de l'association Beaumarchais-SACD et des éditions Radio France.

to listen to  >>>here<<<
 
 
ce post était initialement publié en avril 2013 
 
<<<___!___>>> 

15/07/2024

Io t'abbraccio

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Io t'abbraccio", extrait de l'opéra "Rodelinda", chef-d'oeuvre méconnu de Haendel 

par la superbe et renversante Jeanine de Bique et Tim Mead @ Opéra de Lille

avec "le concert d'Astrée" d'Emmanuelle Haïm

 

 

& "ombre", autre extrait de "Rodelinda"

 ***

 

01/06/2024

I went to the house...



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 as a tribute to Kafka, dead one century ago! the 4 of june 1924,
 
"I went to the house but did not enter", an excerpt of the piece by Heiner Goebbels
with Hilliard Ensemble - 2008
Texts by T.S.Eliot, Maurice Blanchot, Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett
 
“Le regard ne s'empare pas des images, 
ce sont elles qui s'emparent du regard. 
Elles inondent la conscience.”
 
 
!!!___---___!!!

26/02/2022

Neither


"Neither" is the only opera of Morton Feldman, on a Samuel Beckett's libretto.
As kind of dark existentialist lyrical poem, this work was composed for soprano and orchestra in 1977, despite Beckett, for their first meeting in 1976,  told to Feldman he hated opera, as well Feldman answered he rarely used any words in his music! In fact Feldman began to compose music before he received the text.

"I said to him, "I don't blame you!" Then he said to me, "I don't like my words being set to music," and I said, "I'm in complete agreement. In fact it's very seldom that I've used words. I've written a lot of pieces with voice, and they're wordless." Then he looked at me again and said, "But what do you want?" And I said, "I have no idea!" 
Morton Feldman

later...
"In 1985 Beckett suggested Feldman as the composer for a new version of "Words and Music" being produced for American radio. Putting aside his other work, Feldman completed the score, following it with a long piece dedicated to his friend, "For Samuel Beckett", in 1986. " - in  Neither words and music

"Neither" was commisonned and created by the Roma Opera in May 1977.

- a review titled "Beckett as librettist" by Howard Skempton here
- a chronicle (11 december 1978 - page 201) by Tom Johnson in "The voice of new music"


The first 10 minutes of this piece by the Radio Sinfonie Orchestra of Frankfurt conducted by Zoltan Pesko, and the beautiful british soprano Sarah Leonard.

 
 
III-0-III

29/01/2020

One




"One" is a chamber opera for soprano and soundtrack proposed by the dutch composer Michel van der Aa. This piece, premiered in january 2003 with Barbara Hannigan, received the Matthijs Vermeulen Award.
The amazing theatrical performance of the protagonist is supported and complemented by video images. 

Synopsis
Five old women each tell about a fundamental and identical incident in their life. The protagonist of the piece turns out to have played a key role in each of these incidents. Gradually we discover what her relationship to the old women is, and a penetrating portrait arises of a woman who has completely lost herself.




***

13/08/2019

HNNUNG


Often inspired by sonology, and culture of indigenous people from Borneo,  
Nursalim Yadi Anugerah is a Pontianak (Kalimantan - Borneo)  based composer well-known 
for his peculiar approach on instrumentation and composition. 

Reminding sometimes the work of Harry Partch and Phil Glass, 
and adapted from Kayaan people oral literature Takna’ Lawe’,  
HNNUNG is an amazing experimental chamber opera 
that amplifies the cosmic dramaturgy of Kayaan culture, 
in which the music combines western and indonesian orchestral traditions. 



It was performed by Balaan Tumaan Ensemble and Kerubim Choir using various instruments 
ranging from kaldii’ and sape’ to tenor saxophone and contrabass.


picture of Nursalim Yadi Anugerah

 
Hasana Editions, started in 2010 by artist Duto Hardono, is an artistic platform and publication
based in Bandung, Indonesia, focusing on archiving aural production and sound-based art practices.


Hasana Editions curates and publishes physical archives and documents, including cassette tapes, records, experimental poems, early drawings, scores, early versions and unmastered music, artist books, zines, photographs, videos, digital data, artist statements, written concepts, manuscripts, to name a few.

http://hasanaeditions.org/info/
   
Nursalim Yadi Anugerah selects nine recording pieces from this opera, 
in the form of sonic-fiction, for a cassette tape published by Hasana Editions. 

Does the opera renewal cross the Indonesian creation??

DON'T MISS TO LISTEN TO THE AMAZING OPERA HNNUNG  HERE

&
You can read special lines about Hasana Editions
by Jennifer Lucy Allan in The Wire 426 - August 2019


***

24/01/2019

Annette Oratorio


Conçu par Pascale Nandillon et Frédéric Tétart pour l'Atelier Hors Champ, le spectacle
"Annette Oratorio" réunit sur scène une comédienne, une chanteuse lyrique et un musicien électro-acoustique, dans un oratorio théâtral élaboré à partir des carnets d’Annette Libotte, rédigés en 1941 et 1942 depuis l’hôpital psychiatrique de Schaerbeek où elle était internée à cause d’hallucinations auditives. Les textes proviennent de la Collection de l'Art Brut de Lausanne.


au Théâtre de la Commune d'Aubervilliers  du 25 au 30 janvier 2019.
réservations: 01 48 33 16 16 - billetterie@lacommune-aubervilliers.fr

avec
Pascale Nandillon (mise-en-scène, retranscription et adaptation)
Frédéric Tétart (mise-en-scène, musique, retranscription)
Sophie Pernette (comédienne, retranscription)
Juliette de Massy (chanteuse)


La création a eu lieue les 18 et 19 janvier à La Fonderie dans la ville du Mans.
dossier artistique


Annette Libotte invente une langue phonétique qu’on ne déchiffre qu’à haute voix. Sa puissante oralité nous convoque à la source du langage – on y entend le  chemin escarpé que prend la langue pour naître, déformée, balbutiée, libérée dans le chant. Ses écrits font état de ce qui traverse sa vie, sa pensée, sa chair ; ils témoignent de son affairement quotidien, sa faim, sa soif, son désir de liberté, son exil sur le rivage de la maladie.


"Annette Oratorio" s’inscrit dans le sillon des travaux de l'Atelier Hors Champ, autour des langues singulières, profondément corporelles, naturellement musicales, de Vaslav Nijinski, August Stramm, Christophe Tarkos, Henri Michaux, Virginia Woolf... Témoignages existentiels, langues insoumises, bousculant les carcans du langage - menant l'acteur au bord d'une expérience essentielle et désarmante de la parole.



"...Qu'il soit l'espace de la question ouverte et de la polyphonie. Qu'on y entame un dialogue profond avec l'autre, avec la fibre de sa pensée – ce cerveau commun qui se construit entre le plateau et les spectateurs. Qu'on y sonde le réel. Qu'il fissure les carcans du langage et des corps, qu'on y entende des voix inouïes.Qu'il ose sa liberté et qu'on s'y affranchisse." 
Frédéric Tétart et Pascale Nandillon à propos de ce qu'ils attendent du théâtre




*** 
 

30/10/2017

The Force of Things

 

"The force of things" is an opera for objects.

Composed by Ashley Fure, with the complicity of his brother architect, Adam Fure, this piece was first performed in 2016 at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music.

Ashley Fure compose acoustic and electroacoustic music as well she build multimedia installation art. Her work explores the kinetic source of sound, bringing focus to the muscular act of music making and the chaotic behaviors of raw acoustic matter.  

 
"The force of things" is an immersive work of music theater that wrestles with the animate vitality of matter and the mounting hum of ecological anxiety around us. 
Audience members are invited into a field of sculpted matter circled by a ring of subwoofer speakers projecting subaudible frequencies. Though the sounds they emit are too low for humans to hear, the vibrations these subwoofers push into the air cause disturbances to ripple through the material infrastructure of the piece.  Players slide the flesh of their palms and the surface of objects against these speaker cones while they shake, drawing them into the realm of audibility through touch. Two singers snake side-by-side throughout the space, shouting a warning that sounds like a whisper in a language no one can understand.  


22/05/2017

Dust



"Dust" (1998) is a Robert Ashley's  anti-war opera composed in 1998 with solo voices & pre-recorded orchestra.
Commissioned by the Kanagawa Prefectural Concert Hall (Yokohama) with additional funds from Dorothea Tanning.

Imagine a street corner anywhere in the world, where those who live on the fringes of society gather to talk, to each other and to themselves, about life-changing events, missed opportunities, memory, loss and regret.
Five “street people” recount the memories and experiences of one of their group, a man who has lost his legs in some unnamed war. As part of the experience of losing his legs, he began a conversation with God, under the influence of the morphine he was given to ease his pain. Now he wishes that the conversation, which was interrupted when the morphine wore off, could be continued so that he could get the “secret word” that would stop all wars and suffering.

Performed at La Mama (NYC) in 2009 with Robert Ashley, Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Tom Hamilton, Jacqueline Humbert, Joan La Barbara and "Blue" Gene Tyranny.

to look at & listen on Vimeo

  

07/01/2016

A story of destruction


At the time of the famous Vincennes' university, inspired by a Pierre Boulez's writing, a short talk of Gilles Deleuze about "Lulu" & "Wozzeck", the two operas composed by Alban Berg.
Circa 1975/1976. (in french language, subtitled in italian).

11/02/2015

That morning thing

 "That Morning Thing"  - Live @ The Kitchen, 2011

A 1967's work by Robert Ashley
A mixed-media opera for five principal voices, eight dancers, women's chorus and tape.
Director: Fast Forward
Sound processing and mixing: Tom Hamilton
Lighting design: David Moodey
Curated by Mark Beasley

  

That Morning Thing's complete version online  here on Vimeo

 
 
 
_<><>I<><>_

23/10/2014

Il bacio di Tosca

http://www.daniel-schmid.com/2_movies/bacio.php 

"Il bacio di Tosca" is an amazing and deeply touching movie directed by Daniel Schmid in 1984.


"Before he died in 1902, Giuseppe Verdi inaugurated a home for retired artists in Milan, a project he had worked on for some time. This home is maintained by the Friends of the Casa Verdi, after Verdi's royalties that supported the home ran out in the 1960s. Director Daniel Schmid interviews several of the operatic stars living there in 1984: Sara Scuderi, Giuseppe Manachini, Leonida Bellon, and the composer and conductor Puligheddu. The singers reminisce about their past and display an independent, extroverted spirit that does not need rehearsing to come alive. Both Verdi fans and opera aficionados will especially enjoy this "off-stage" look at a group of performers in retirement." 
Eleanor Mannikka

09/01/2014

Einstein on the beach

http://alain.neddam.info/publications/einstein-on-the-beach-36-ans-apres/
 
The famous Philip Glass's opera, "Einstein on the beach",  directed by Bob Wilson and choregraphied by Lucinda Childs, yesterday night at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris : a fabulous and amazing evening.


A few interresting comments, details and memories (in french langage) <<<here>>>

An  excerpt recorded live at The Green Space in NYC
Knee Play 5

15/12/2012

Celestial excursions


Yesterday night, Robert Ashley did a solo performance for the "Art Press" 40th anniversary, at the Bibliothèque François Mitterand in Paris. Called "Answers and other songs", this lecture was amazing: his recitative voice, thoughtful of the stream and tempo of everyday speech, was alternately ondulating, pitching, singing, drawling with an obvious lucidity and a real sense of humour.
One of the piece he performed was "Love is a good example".

......

"Celestial excursions" is an opera composed by Robert Ashley in 2003.
The opera delves into the wild intermingling of loss, regret, nightmares, old sayings and old songs on the radio. Composed for solo voices and pre-recorded orchestra, the opera's originality lies in a vocal ensemble technique, unique to Ashley, which puts the vocal soloist in the midst of a swirling chorus.
Here are some excerpts of this piece.




"The essence of my music is that the syllables go by as fast as they do in the American English language and the pitch stresses, which make one syllable more important than the other syllable, are all within a range of half an octave. It's like you squeeze it in one direction and expand it in another direction. I've always been interested in tempo because it's a big, big factor in vocal music. The other factors, like melody, have been used up for the time being."  - Robert Ashley (from "The Wire" - august 2003)

Robert Ashley's major works are available on Lovely Music and Alga Marghen
& despite of his great pieces and recordings, i recommend particulary the CD  "Tap Dancing in the Sand"  featuring the MAE Ensemble on the label  Unsounds -  2007

***



07/11/2012

Antonio das mortes


"Antonio das mortes", "Prix de la mise en scène" au Festival de Cannes en 1969, est le film qui consacre mondialement  Glauber Rocha, l'enfant terrible du cinéma brésilien et porte parole du "cinema novo", comme un réalisateur incontournable. 
Son oeuvre fortement politique, au travers de fables allégoriques et de paraboles baroques au naturalisme stylistique, est une réflexion sur la culture brésilienne contemporaine, les inégalités sociales, la misère du Tiers Monde.


"Je n'ai pas honte de dire que mes films sont produits par la douleur, par la haine, par un amour frustré et impossible, par l'incohérence du sous-développement." - Glauber Rocha

!!! A Paris, au Musée du Jeu de Paume, une rétrospective incluant quelques films rarement montrés, jusqu'au 18 décembre.

La bande son de la scène de la mort d'Antonio das Mortes, est stupéfiante, mêlant bruitages, cris et musique de Marlos Nobre qui propose là une forme d'opéra contemporain tout à fait déjantée. Impossible de trouver le nom de la chanteuse étonnante... Toutes informations sur ce sujet seront les bienvenues.

A écouter de toute urgence!

* le titre originale du film est ""O Dragão da Maldade contra o Santo Guerreiro"




20/08/2012

Necessary Monsters



"Necessary Monsters", a staged song cycle for 7 musicians & 1 actress,
written by the american violonist and vocalist  Carla Kihlstedt & the poet Rafael Oses,
based on "Book of imaginary beings" of Jose Luis Borges.
At the West coast premiere in San Francisco in July 2011.



27/11/2011

Art's sake

"be blind for art's sake 
and deaf for art's sake 
and dumb for art's sake 
until for art's sake 
they kill for art's sake 
all the art for the art's sake."

 

"soyez aveugles pour l'art
soyez sourds pour l'art,
soyez muets pour l'art
jusqu'à ce que, pour l'art,
on tue - pour l'art -
tout l'art, pour l'art."


from the libretto of "The Craddle Will Rock", a musical written by the Brechtian's Marc Blitzstein in 1937.
The premiere, directed by Orson Welles, was targeted by the W.P.A. because of its left political aspect.
The "New York Times" said the show was "written with extraordianry versatility and played with enormous gusto, the best militant labor has put into the theatre yet".
One of the fist "agitprop" in USA?