FESTIVAL PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE PARIS - The unmissable event for French Romantic music
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6 TH EDITION 1 – 29 JUNE 2018 FESTIVAL PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE PARIS The unmissable event for French Romantic music PRESS KIT Press contact: Nicky Thomas 101 Bell Street Marylebone, London, NW1 6TL +44 20 3714 7594 info@nickythomasmedia.com
CALENDAR
FRIDAY 1 JUNE TUESDAY 5 JUNE
8.30 P.M. THURSDAY 14 JUNE
FROM 6.30 P.M. 7.30 P.M.
THÉÂTRE DES THÉÂTRE DES
BOUFFES DU NORD THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES
BOUFFES DU NORD
2 BOUFFES EN 1 ACTE FAUST
FRENCH QUARTET NIGHT
Jacques OFFENBACH Charles GOUNOD
Quartets by FAURÉ, REICHA,
CHAUSSON, ONSLOW, GOUVY, Les Deux Aveugles (1855) unreleased version of 1859
GOUNOD, ARRIAGA, SAINT-SAËNS HERVÉ LES TALENS LYRIQUES
6.30 P.M.: HERMÈS QUARTET Le Compositeur toqué (1854) FLEMISH RADIO CHOIR
8 P.M.: ARDEO QUARTET Raphaël Brémard tenor Christophe Rousset conductor
9.30 P.M.: CAMBINI-PARIS QUARTET Flannan Obé tenor with Véronique Gens, Benjamin Bernheim,
11 P.M.: MODIGLIANI QUARTET Christophe Manien piano Jean-Sébastien Bou,
Lola Kirchner stage director, wardrobe and Andrew Foster-Williams,
set designer Juliette Mars, Ingrid Perruche,
Cyril Monteil lighting Jérôme Boutillier
SATURDAY 2, MONDAY 4,
WEDNESDAY 6, FRIDAY 8 JUNE
8 P.M. SATURDAY 16 JUNE
SUNDAY 10 JUNE 3 P.M. WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE
2.30 P.M. 8 P.M.
TUESDAY 12, THURSDAY 14 MAISON DE LA RADIO -
JUNE 8 P.M. THÉÂTRE DES
BOUFFES DU NORD AUDITORIUM DE RADIO FRANCE
OPÉRA COMIQUE
2 BOUFFES EN 1 ACTE GALA GOUNOD
LA NONNE SANGLANTE
Family show Operas and oratorios excerpts
Charles GOUNOD
by Charles GOUNOD
ACCENTUS CHOIR
INSULA ORCHESTRA Roméo et Juliette, Sapho,
Laurence Equilbey conductor WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE Faust, La Reine de Saba,
8.30 P.M. Tobie, Philémon et Baucis,
David Bobée stage director Cinq-Mars, Mireille,
with Michael Spyres, Vannina Santoni, THÉÂTRE DES
BOUFFES DU NORD Mors et Vita
Marion Lebègue, André Heyboer, ORCHESTRE NATIONAL
Jodie Devos, Jean Teitgen, AU PAYS OÙ SE FAIT LA GUERRE
DE FRANCE
Luc Bertin-Hugault, Works by BONIS, OFFENBACH, Jesko Sirvend conductor
Enguerrand de Hys, Olivia Doray CHAMINADE, FAURÉ, DONIZETTI, Olivier Latry organ
Production Opéra Comique GODARD, DUPARC, DEBUSSY, HAHN, Elsa Dreisig, Jodie Devos sopranos
N. BOULANGER, DUBOIS Kate Aldrich mezzo-soprano
Isabelle Druet mezzo-soprano Yosep Kang tenor
SUNDAY 3 JUNE I GIARDINI Patrick Bolleire bass-baritone
4.30 P.M. Production Orchestre National de
THÉÂTRE DES France
BOUFFES DU NORD SATURDAY 9 JUNE 8.30 P.M.
GOUNOD GOTHIQUE SUNDAY 10 JUNE 4.30 P.M.
PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS TUESDAY 19 JUNE 7 P.M.
Charles GOUNOD GRANDE SALLE PIERRE BOULEZ
Vocal Mass WEDNESDAY 20, FRIDAY 22 JUNE
Les Sept Paroles de Notre Seigneur RÊVES D’ORIENT 8 P.M.
Jésus-Christ sur la Croix Vincent D'INDY SUNDAY 24 JUNE 4 P.M.
and transcriptions for choir of works Istar TUESDAY 26 JUNE 7 P.M.
by Bach, Palestrina and Mozart Maurice RAVEL WEDNESDAY 27, FRIDAY 29 JUNE
FLEMISH RADIO CHOIR Shéhérazade 8 P.M.
Hervé Niquet conductor Albert ROUSSEL ATHÉNÉE THÉÂTRE LOUIS-JOUVET
François Saint-Yves organ Padmâvatî LES P'TITES MICHU
Claude DEBUSSY / Charles KOECHLIN
Khamma André MESSAGER
Florent SCHMITT Pierre Dumoussaud conductor
MONDAY 4 JUNE Antoine et Cléopâtre Rémy Barché stage director
8.30 P.M.
THÉÂTRE DES ORCHESTRE DE PARIS COMPANY LES BRIGANDS
BOUFFES DU NORD Fabien Gabel conductor with Violette Polchi, Anne-Aurore Cochet
Measha Brueggergosman soprano Damien Bigourdan, Romain Dayez,
A CENTURY OF FRENCH MÉLODIE Philippe Estèphe, Boris Grappe,
Mélodies by DAVID, LALO, Co-production Orchestre de Paris /
Marie Lenormand, Caroline Meng,
GODARD, GOUNOD, Philharmonie de Paris Artavazd Sargsyan
LA TOMBELLE, SAINT-SAËNS
Tassis Christoyannis baritone
Jeff Cohen piano OPÉRA COMIQUE, SALLE BIZET THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD
CONFERENCE OPÉRA COMIQUE
GOUNOD ON THE STAGE PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS
THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES
4, 5, 6 JUNE 2018
AUDITORIUM DE RADIO FRANCE
Admission with reservation
ATHÉNÉE THÉÂTRE LOUIS-JOUVET
6th FESTIVAL
PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE PARIS
1–29 JUNE 2018
‘I’m still dazzled and filled with delight,
Oh, what a sight for my surprised eyes!
I’ve come back enthusiastic, elated, beguiled:
For at last I saw Paris tonight!’
La Baronne de Gondremarck, La Vie parisienne by Jacques Offenbach
Like Offenbach’s diva setting off to discover the French capital in 1866, wonderstruck patrons of the 6th Festival Palazzetto
Bru Zane Paris will find much to surprise and delight them as they visit the finest concert venues and auditoriums in
Paris.
The Palazzetto Bru Zane is again opening the sixth session of this festival at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, with a
French Quartet Night, which will showcase eight rare works providing an overview of this genre during the Romantic
period.
The festival’s opera programme will spotlight Charles Gounod with the unpublished version of Faust from 1859, under
the baton of Christophe Rousset at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, a ‘Gala Gounod’ at the Auditorium de Radio
France with the Orchestre National de France and prestigious soloists (Kate Aldrich, Yosep Kang, Elsa Dreisig, Jodie Devos,
and many others), and the joint production, with the Opéra Comique, of La Nonne sanglante, directed by Laurence
Equilbey and David Bobée.
The concert series will continue with an original programme of sacred music from the Flemish Radio Choir conducted
by Hervé Niquet, a recital of French mélodies by Tassis Christoyannis and Jeff Cohen, a revival of Au pays où se fait
la guerre (Isabelle Druet and I Giardini) and the unveiling of the new production, 2 Bouffes en 1 acte, directed by Lola
Kirchner, an exhilarating pairing of two operettas by Hervé and Offenbach.
The Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet will also stage André Messager’s ebullient P’tites Michu, with the company Les
Brigands. Last but not least, the 2018 festival will feature a concert from the Orchestre de Paris at the Philharmonie
de Paris.
There will be an introduction to the works 30 minutes before each concert at the Théâtre des Bouffes du
Nord.
The concerts of the 9, 10 and 16 june will be recorded and broadcasted by France Musique francemusique.
fr
In collaboration with:
C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
Opéra Comique
Philharmonie de Paris
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Auditorium de Radio France
Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
Cover:
©Loïc Le Gall 3
FRIDAY 1 JUNE FROM 6.30 P.M.
THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD
FRENCH QUARTET NIGHT
6.30 P.M. – HERMÈS QUARTET
Ernest CHAUSSON: Quartet in C Minor op. 35
Gabriel FAURÉ: Quartet in E Minor op. 121
8 P.M. – ARDEO QUARTET
George ONSLOW: Quartet in C Major op. 64
Antoine REICHA: Quartet in C Minor op. 49 No. 1
9.30 P.M. – CAMBINI-PARIS QUARTET
Théodore GOUVY: Quartet in A Minor No. 4 op. 56 No. 2
Charles GOUNOD: Quartet in G Minor CG 565
11 P.M. – MODIGLIANI QUARTET
Juan Crisóstomo de ARRIAGA: Quartet No. 3 in E Flat Major
Camille SAINT-SAËNS: Quartet in E Minor No. 1 op. 112
The French Romantic Quartet
The quartet genre, brought to a peak of stylistic perfection by Haydn and Mozart became, with Beethoven, a locus for
experimentation, in which no instrument took precedence over the others. This idea did not immediately catch on in
France: Rode and Kreutzer developed the ‘quatuor brillant’, in which the first violin played the main melody, accompanied
by its three subordinates. However, as a result of Beethoven’s influence, the egalitarian style gradually became the norm, as
did the notion of the quartet as the ultimate serious genre, the main repository for a composer’s personal confidences. In the
early 20th century, the string quartet came to represent the culmination of a career for many French composers. Since the
widespread circulation of Beethoven’s last quartets had ‘condemned them to the status of masterpieces’ (Joël-Marie Fauquet),
composers tended to tackle this genre with a certain degree of trepidation. Like César Franck, who completed his first
quartet in 1890, the year of his death, and Ernest Chausson, who did not finish the only quartet he began in 1898 (he died in
1899), Gabriel Fauré only turned to the genre for his very last work, the E Minor Quartet, opus 121 (1924).
Production Palazzetto Bru Zane
In collaboration with the C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
4 THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD
SUNDAY 3 JUNE 4.30 P.M. THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD GOUNOD GOTHIQUE SACRED MUSIC IN THE CATHEDRAL’S SHADOW Charles GOUNOD Vocal Mass Les Septs Paroles de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ sur la Croix and transcriptions for choir of works by Bach, Palestrina and Mozart FLEMISH RADIO CHOIR Hervé Niquet conductor François Saint-Yves organ The composer of numerous Romantic masses with orchestra, Gounod also took a passionate interest in choral transcription and the musical styles of the past, at the very time when Viollet-le-Duc was restoring and reinterpreting the Gothic architecture of the churches and cathedrals of France. He therefore focused his attention in turn on Bach, Palestrina, Handel, Arcadelt, Arbeau and Mozart, adapting for chorus the ‘March of the Priests’ from Die Zauberflöte (hummed wordlessly) and the celebrated Ave verum corpus. This contact with the past enabled him to hone his skills in harmony and Renaissance counterpoint. On his way back from the Villa Medici, he composed in Vienna, in 1843, a Vocal Mass in the Palestrinian style which has never been published or revised since its first performance. Punctuated by chorales after the manner of Johann Sebastian Bach, the work goes far beyond mere pastiche: it traverses the various aesthetics of the past while enriching them with the vibrant harmonies of the Romantic era. And this ardent, impassioned Romanticism recurs in even stronger form in Les Sept Paroles de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ sur la Croix (The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, 1855), whose subject, at once gloomy and mystical, was an ideal match for the ambiguous personality of Gounod’s music, torn between religious fervour and sensuality. Vocal Mass Shortly after his Requiem had been performed at the Karlskirche in Vienna, Gounod was commissioned to write a short mass for five voices a cappella, that he entitled Vocal Mass. The choir there had recently performed Palestrina’s Missa Papæ Marcelli, and Gounod composed a work ‘written in a style closely approximating that of the Sistine Chapel’. His Vocal Mass is a highly original work: all the prayers except the Sanctus are introduced by brief Corals (chorales) invoking the Virgin Mary, the melodies of which are subsequently used as a cantus firmus. Gounod may have seen these Corals as a means of inscribing the Vokalmesse within a Germanic tradition. Is that why he did not bother to have the work published in France, or was it because he felt that ordinary choirs would be unable to perform it? THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD 5
Les Sept Paroles de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ sur la Croix
Dedicated to Monseigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, who had declared Palestrina’s style highly suitable for the
expression of religious feeling, it was composed in July 1855, shortly before the completion of the (immediately very
popular) Messe en l’honneur de Sainte Cécile, but no trace has yet been found of the first performance of this work.
Gounod put together his own libretto for it, based on the Latin text of the Vulgate, taken from the four Gospels. He set
each movement with great care, thus building up an elliptical account of the final hours of Christ’s Passion. The overall
key is F major; the adjacent keys and their relatives offer sufficient resources for the economy of a score that is sober in
its effects. Thus we rarely come across more than one, very eloquent, instance of word painting for each Word. Vertical
harmonic sections alternate with contrapuntal ones (canons or imitations). The syllabic writing and melismas are
sometimes dictated by the meaning of the words, as are the borrowings from adjacent keys, but the abstract balance
of the polyphony takes precedence over illustration. Nevertheless, it is imperative to respect the tempo and dynamic
markings; it would be a mistake to perform this music in the manner of Palestrina.
Production Palazzetto Bru Zane
In collaboration with the C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
6 THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD
MONDAY 4 JUNE 8.30 P.M. THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD A CENTURY OF FRENCH MÉLODIE Mélodies by DAVID, LALO, GODARD, GOUNOD, LA TOMBELLE, SAINT-SAËNS Tassis Christoyannis baritone Jeff Cohen piano The French mélodie In the hierarchy of nineteenth and early twentieth-century repertoires, the French mélodie – sometimes for two voices and piano, more often for one voice with accompaniment – stands at the summit. Its fair assessment requires deep understanding of poetry and an appreciation of detail. Symbolist thoughts or, at the other extreme, lines borrowed from Ronsard or Villon, make it into a genre that is above all literary. This refinement – seen as elitist – explains why the mélodie is still not a ‘popular’ genre, one with general appeal, especially since some of this music (oddly, the pieces that are heard most frequently in concert) often refuses direct expression of feeling. The singer has to have the talent of a storyteller; the pianist must be able to create an imaginary orchestra. Launched by Gounod and Berlioz, the vogue for the mélodie flourished among the conservative composers (Dubois, Massé, Delibes, Paladilhe, Hahn and others), as well as among the innovators, such as Chausson, Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc, with Fauré as the undisputed master of the genre. Production Palazzetto Bru Zane In collaboration with the C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD 7
TUESDAY 5 JUNE 8.30 P.M.
WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE 2.30 P.M.
FAMILY SHOW
THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD
2 BOUFFES EN 1 ACTE
Les Deux Aveugles (1855):
bouffonnerie musicale in one act 2 Bouffes en 1 acte © Photo Riccardo Pittaluga
music by Jacques Offenbach
on a libretto by Jules Moinaux
Le Compositeur toqué (1854):
bouffonnerie musicale in one act
words and music by HERVÉ
Raphaël Brémard tenor: Fignolet, an eccentric composer / Patachon
Flannan Obé tenor: Séraphin, his servant / Giraffier
Christophe Manien piano
Lola Kirchner stage director, set and costume designer
Cyril Monteil lighting
This “pocket” production is a pairing of two one-act operettas by two bitter rivals on the Parisian opera stage of that
period, Offenbach and Hervé. Les Deux Aveugles and Le Compositeur toqué are brought back to life with the kind help
of young, resourceful director, Lola Kirchner.
These works, which have become a real headache for opera directors, were originally intended as curtain raisers for
three act pieces, making it possible to fill evening-length opera programmes in order to keep spectators interested for
three or four hours at a stretch. A collection of three ‘one-acts’ was occasionally performed at special events which
required a variety of styles and more big names in the cast list. All the leading composers wrote them, from Massenet
(Thérèse, La Navarraise) to Saint-Saëns (La Princesse jaune), but it was in the light opera repertory that the genre
really flourished, between opéra comique (Boieldieu, Hérold, Auber, Adam, etc.) and operetta or opéra bouffe (Lecocq,
Varney, Audran, Offenbach, etc.). Another factor was that the small theatres, as well as lacking funds, had to obey
the restrictions imposed on them by the decree of 1807: no more than two or three performers on stage, no chorus,
no ballet... Hervé and Offenbach were past masters at circumventing constraints. They could do a lot with a little,
suggest what could not be shown, increase action in the wings, or introduce non-speaking characters, even imitation
characters made of cardboard… Spurred on by the same creative spirit, the two rivals continually outdid each other’s
innovations. The result was an incredibly amusing repertory which never failed to involve the audience, bringing actors
and spectators together in celebration of the ‘Paris spirit’, which was a mixture of bawdy comedy and situational
surrealism. It is not every day that someone cooks a cutlet between the strings of a piano! And certainly not while
singing the ‘Cri du Missipipi’, a ridiculous hymn with a bass drum accompaniment…
Production Bru Zane France
In collaboration with the C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
Creative residency at La Ferme du Buisson - Scène Nationale de Marne-la-Vallée
With the support of Arcadi Île-de-France
8 THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD
WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE 8.30 P.M. THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD AU PAYS OÙ SE FAIT LA GUERRE Isabelle Druet mezzo-soprano I GIARDINI Pierre Fouchenneret violin Léa Hennino alto Pauline Buet cello David Violi piano Transcriptions: Alexandre Dratwicki This programme, aiming to afford insight into the mind of a soldier of the Great War, was devised by the Palazzetto Bru Zane together with the artists taking part. It takes its title from a song by Henri Duparc. All the composers included experienced the conflicts of 1870 and 1914 and showed an artistic fervour that left its mark. The call of duty (‘Ton bras est fort, ton âme est fière!’ – Offenbach, La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein) did not make it easier for loved ones to part. Then there was the fear, the anxiety, on reaching the front, a ‘magnificent and dark sweetness [that] hovers beneath the starry sky; one would say that, up there, in the shadows, a paradise has collapsed…’ (Nadia Boulanger, Élégie). The soldier tries to reassure himself – ‘Give me your hand, my Pain… ’ (Debussy, Recueillement) – and takes heart at the thought of the woman he loves. The days pass, their horror sometimes masked by a temporary feeling of serenity. But when evening comes and the noise of battle has died down, the unbearable loneliness returns, worse than ever: ‘The tears one may shed, when heads are turned away, cannot be imagined ... ’ (Benjamin Godard, Les Larmes). Inevitably, Death follows in the footsteps of despair, also taking those not involved in the fighting: ‘Far from the man I love, I await death...’ (Cécile Chaminade, Exil). Finally, ‘all those who once loved with a tender love, after death can await each other in paradise ...’ (Théodore Dubois, En Paradis). This recital has been adapted for piano quartet by Alexandre Dratwicki with a view to creating a unified programme that exploits the variety of the pieces without any disruption that might be caused by alternating solo piano with full quartet. This unity of tone (or, rather, of “sound”) also helps to create the impression of an evolving journey: this is a single, seamless story told by piecing together a series of “little stories”. Production Palazzetto Bru Zane In collaboration with the C.I.C.T. – Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord This programme received the label ‘Centenaire’ as part of the manifestations dedicated to the First World War THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD 9
SATURDAY 2, MONDAY 4, WEDNESDAY 6, FRIDAY 8 JUNE 8 P.M.
SUNDAY 10 JUNE 3 P.M.
TUESDAY 12, THURSDAY 14 JUNE 8 P.M.
OPÉRA COMIQUE
LA NONNE SANGLANTE
Grand opéra in five acts by Charles GOUNOD
on a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne,
premiered at the Opéra de Paris (Salle Le Peletier) on 18 October 1854
ACCENTUS CHOIR
INSULA ORCHESTRA
Laurence Equilbey conductor and playwright
David Bobée stage director and playwright
Corinne Meyniel artistic collaboration
David Bobée, Aurélie Lemaignen set designer
Alain Blanchot costumes
Stéphane Babi Aubert lighting
Rodolphe Michael Spyres
Agnès Vannina Santoni
La Nonne Marion Lebègue
Luddorf André Heyboer
Arthur Jodie Devos
Pierre l’Ermite Jean Teitgen
Le baron de Moldaw Luc Bertin-Hugault
Fritz / Veilleur de nuit Enguerrand de Hys
Anna Olivia Doray
This opera by Gounod, unknown today despite its eye-catching title (The bleeding nun!), sets a libretto by Scribe
and Delavigne based in part on Matthew Lewis’s The Monk (1796). It prolongs the taste of the 1820s for the ‘Gothic’
historical novel, in which spectres and phantoms are protagonists in macabre adventures set in a supernatural
atmosphere. The subject had such appeal that both Verdi and Berlioz had thought of treating it. The premiere of
Gounod’s opera in October 1854 coincided with a period of crisis at the Paris Opéra and seems to have been a factor
in the resignation of its director, Nestor Roqueplan. His replacement, François-Louis Crosnier, was naturally keen to
suspend performances of the repertory initiated by his predecessor, and did not shrink from describing La Nonne as
‘filth’ that was intolerable on France’s leading operatic stage. An attentive ear today will not find it hard to contradict
this judgment and acknowledge the composer’s genuine talent throughout the score. Following in the tradition of the
fantastical style of Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable (1831), Gounod skilfully tailors his orchestral colours to the sometimes
pathetic, sometimes heroic situations that give the libretto its structure.
Production Opéra Comique
Co-production Palazzetto Bru Zane / Insula Orchestra
OPÉRA COMIQUE, SALLE BIZET
CONFERENCE
GOUNOD ON THE STAGE
ON MONDAY 4, TUESDAY 5, WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE 2018
With the aid of rarely explored sources, this conference will review
Gounod’s entire operatic output. With each work serving as the basis for a
specific analysis, it will discuss the role that certain renowed performers
may have played in the staging; the link between instrumental passages
and stage movement; set designs and costumes; and the circulation of the
works and their productions.
10
In collaboration with the Opéra Comique OPÉRA COMIQUESATURDAY 9 JUNE 8.30 P.M. SUNDAY 10 JUNE 4.30 P.M. PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS GRANDE SALLE PIERRE BOULEZ RÊVES D’ORIENT Vincent D’INDY Istar, symphonic variations Maurice RAVEL Shéhérazade, three poems for voice and orchestra Albert ROUSSEL Padmâvatî, suite No. 2 Claude DEBUSSY / Charles KOECHLIN Khamma, ballet music Florent SCHMITT Antoine et Cléopâtre, suite No. 2 ORCHESTRE DE PARIS Fabien Gabel conductor Measha Brueggergosman soprano The nineteenth century, a period of voyages, of attraction for the exotic but also of colonial ambitions, approached artistic alterity in scientific fashion. Hence composers too discovered the Orient and Africa with an almost ethnological method. From Saint-Saëns to Debussy, from Roussel to Schmitt, the western imagination found nourishment not only in myths and legends imported from foreign climes, but also in musical motifs collected in the field and incorporated in the harmonic language of art music. The Romantic exoticism of David or Massenet gave way to an Orient shimmering with previously unknown colours that became the driving force for a formidable surge of musical modernity. The transition from one century to the next succeeded in drawing on all these experiences to offer a catalogue of works typical of the French art envied by the rest of the world. As part of the Rêves d’Orient weekend Co-production Orchestre de Paris / Philharmonie de Paris With the support of the Palazzetto Bru Zane The concert will be recorded and broadcasted by France Musique francemusique.fr PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS 11
THURSDAY 14 JUNE 7.30 P.M.
THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES
FAUST
Unreleased version of 1859 on the occasion of Gounod’s bicentenary
Opera in 4 acts by Charles GOUNOD
on a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré (after Goethe),
premiered on 19 March 1859 at the Théâtre-Lyrique
Concert performance
LES TALENS LYRIQUES
FLEMISH RADIO CHOIR
Christophe Rousset conductor
Marguerite Véronique Gens
Faust Benjamin Bernheim
Valentin Jean-Sébastien Bou
Méphistophélès Andrew Foster-Williams
Siebel Juliette Mars
Dame Marthe Ingrid Perruche
Wagner/Un Mendiant Jérôme Boutillier
This masterpiece of the French Romantic repertoire, a regular standby in every opera house, will be presented in the
original, unpublished version of its 1859 premiere, including the spoken dialogue and the ironic treatment of some of the
characters, elements that were lost in the far-reaching revisions made to the work between 1859 and 1869. Christophe
Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques and the Flemish Radio Choir will be the partners in this first performance in modern times
(concert version) and its subsequent release as a world premiere recording in the «French Opera» series.
It would appear that Gounod began to think about setting Faust to music as early as his residence at the Villa Medici in
the 1840s. But almost twenty years were to elapse before one of the most famous works of nineteenth-century French
music saw the light of day. If today’s opera lovers believe they are familiar with this pillar of the repertoire, premiered
at the Théâtre-Lyrique in 1859, it is because its entry within the portals of the Grand Opéra in 1869 subsequently
propelled the work – in its new form – into theatres all over the world. But numerous modifications were the price to
be paid for gaining access to that Parisian temple. Between the Faust of 1859 and its counterpart of 1869, some of the
spirit has vanished: the spontaneity of the spoken dialogue, sometimes set as melodrama; the pawky humour of Dame
Marthe, here a character role; or the irony of Méphistophélès, more comical than cynical. We have forgotten the charm
of the first tenors who sang ‘Salut, demeure chaste et pur’ with the timbre typical of the voix mixte of opéra-comique.
Moreover, a large number of pieces were consigned to oblivion by these modifications, including a splendid duet for
Marguerite and Valentin, an aria for Siebel, an introductory trio with a prominent part for Wagner, Méphisto’s ‘Chanson
de Maître Scarabée’ (later replaced by ‘Le Veau d’or’) and a curious chorus of Sorceresses. To discover this first Faust is to
gain a deeper insight into the French aesthetic of demi-caractère, so specific to the Paris of the 1850s.
12 THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉESThe undisputed masterpiece of Charles Gounod, Faust has acquired an international reputation in its wholly sung version. But this is to forget that the work, the subject of which had not interested the director of the Paris Opéra, had initially been composed with spoken dialogue for the Théâtre-Lyrique, the third-ranking Parisian opera house after the Académie Impériale de Musique (Opéra) and the Opéra-Comique. The mixed form that was chosen for the occasion, which differs from both grand opéra and opéra-comique, itself went through two principal versions which include unpublished numbers and melodramas. Although he discovered Goethe’s Faust as early as 1838, Gounod did not take a genuine interest in the subject until 1850, when Michel Carré had a drame fantastique, Faust et Marguerite, performed at the Théâtre du Gymnase-Dramatique. This play served as Jules Barbier’s model for the libretto of the future opera, which the composer set to music with total fidelity. This was to be the first version of the work. Having been accepted by Léon Carvalho, the director of the Théâtre-Lyrique at the time, the work went into rehearsal in 1858. Carvalho, who also directed the staging, had a very strong personality and constantly forced Gounod to make modifications. This was only the beginning of an uninterrupted succession of transformations, since the work was given each season. The gradual and continuous nature of Faust’s transformations at the Théâtre-Lyrique (let us not even go into what happened in provincial opera houses!) makes it impossible to define a second version. However, the first vocal score, published in June 1859, may be considered as a second stabilised version. It was accompanied by a second edition of the libretto. Although this score is not exactly congruent with contemporary Parisian performances, it was mostly inspired by them. Complete except for the five melodramas that needed to be orchestrated for the present performance, this second version obviously arouses less curiosity because it is closer to the work that tradition has passed down to us, despite the persistence of spoken dialogue. The psychology of the characters is simplified and the supernatural dimension is considerably lessened. It was for this reason that Gounod composed a new bacchanal for the last act, which was rehearsed in Paris in October 1859 but finally never performed there. Co-production Bru Zane France / Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paul Prévost Editions – L’Opéra français Bärenreiter-Verlag Kassel, Basel, London, New York, Praha THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES 13
SATURDAY 16 JUNE 8 P.M.
AUDITORIUM DE RADIO FRANCE
GALA GOUNOD
In homage to Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
on the occasion of the bicentenary of the composer’s birth
operas and oratorios excerpts
by Charles GOUNOD
Roméo et Juliette
Sapho
Faust
La Reine de Saba
Tobie
Philémon et Baucis
Cinq-Mars
Mireille
Mors et Vita
Organ improvisation on themes by Gounod
ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE FRANCE
Jesko Sirvend conductor
Olivier Latry organ
Jodie Devos soprano
Elsa Dreisig soprano
Kate Aldrich mezzo-soprano
Yosep Kang tenor
Patrick Bolleire bass-baritone
In homage to Gounod, the Palazzetto Bru Zane joins forces with the Orchestre National de France to present a special
concert retracing the composer’s career through rare and little-known pieces: his cantata for the 1837 Prix de Rome
(Marie Stuart), the unpublished first version of the ‘Poison Aria’ from Roméo et Juliette, his opera Cinq-Mars (revived
only in 2015), excerpts from his epic sacred oratorio Mors et Vita, and the big female duet from Le Tribut de Zamora, the
composer’s last opera. As is appropriate for a tribute, the concert will also recall some of Gounod’s greatest successes,
with the Overture to Mireille and the Ballet Music from Faust, which have constantly delighted music lovers for more
than a century now.
Production Orchestre National de France
With the support of the Palazzetto Bru Zane
The concert will be recorded and broadcasted by France Musique
francemusique.fr
14 AUDITORIUM DE RADIO FRANCEGounod is rightly viewed as the apostle of a lyrical, sensual and seductive Romanticism. From the wonder of Marguerite admiring herself in the ‘Jewel Song’ from Faust to the pastoral ingenuousness of Mireille, by way of the voluptuous delight of the Garden Scene from Roméo et Juliette, the composer exhibited his ability to grasp and transcribe the palpitations of the human heart when it falls victim to love, overwhelming or frustrated. AUDITORIUM DE RADIO FRANCE 15
TUESDAY 19 JUNE 7 P.M.
WEDNESDAY 20, FRIDAY 22 JUNE 8 P.M.
SUNDAY 24 JUNE 4 P.M.
TUESDAY 26 JUNE 7 P.M.
WEDNESDAY 27, FRIDAY 29 JUNE 8 P.M.
ATHÉNÉE THÉÂTRE LOUIS-JOUVET
LES P’TITES MICHU
Operetta in 3 acts by André MESSAGER
on a libretto by Albert Vanloo and Georges Duval,
premiered on 16 November 1897 at the Bouffes-Parisiens
Transcription by Thibault Perrine
Version for 9 singers and 12 instrumentalists
COMPANY LES BRIGANDS
Pierre Dumoussaud conductor
Rémy Barché set director
Blanche-Marie Anne-Aurore Cochet
Marie-Blanche Violette Polchi
Gaston Philippe Estèphe
Madame Michu Marie Lenormand
Monsieur Michu Damien Bigourdan
Le Général des Ifs Boris Grappe
Aristide Artavazd Sargsyan
Bagnolet Romain Dayez
Mademoiselle Herpin Caroline Meng
Following on from Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde in late 2016, the company Les Brigands and the Palazzetto Bru
Zane return to the Théâtre de l’Athénée to present their new operetta production. The P’tites Michu are two girls from
an oddly constituted family. In this operetta of everyday life, little dramas of love take the place of the high stakes of
tragedy. Reading through this work, one thinks of Jacques Demy’s
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, of Éric Rohmer, of Wedekind’s Spring Awakening, of Marcel Aymé’s Delphine and Mariette
(in Les Contes du chat perché), even of Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides in some respects. Messager’s music plays on
the register of mild emotion and melancholy, on the charm of a style in which everything seems clear while nothing
is banal. The work enjoyed enormous success on its first run, which was prolonged by a Broadway adaptation in 1907
under the title The Little Michus.
Co-production Angers Nantes Opéra / Bru Zane / company Les Brigands
Delegate production Bru Zane France
Executive production company Les Brigands
In collaboration with the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
Stage sets and costumes by the ateliers at Angers Nantes Opéra
Scores: co-edition Choudens and Palazzetto Bru Zane
The subject of the piece is simple: the antecedents of the story lie in 1793, at the height of the Terror, and the action takes
place in 1810. Two girls have been raised by a couple of respectable tradespeople, the Michus, who run a shop at
Les Halles, the central Paris market. The girls are the same age, and are utterly convinced they are twin sisters.
But in reality only one of them is the Michus’ offspring. The other is the daughter of the Marquis des Ifs. The latter,
newly widowed after the death of his wife giving birth to their baby, was forced to leave Paris to escape his pursuers
and entrusted the child to the care of Madame Michu, who had been in his service before her marriage. But, as ill luck
would have it, Monsieur Michu mixed the two babies up while bathing them, and it subsequently proved impossible to
distinguish between the little Michu girl and the little des Ifs. Eighteen years later, the Marquis des Ifs returns, now a
general of Napoleon’s Empire. He has come to fetch his daughter in order to give her in marriage to the handsome Captain
Gaston Rigaud, his aide-de-camp. The Michus are obliged to admit that they are unable to determine which of the two
teenagers was the baby placed in their care. The General fumes and orders Gaston to choose one of them, since the latter
is the person most directly concerned. Marie-Blanche is as vivacious and uninhibited as Blanche-Marie is shy and reserved.
16 ATHÉNÉE THÉÂTRE LOUIS-JOUVETGaston chooses Marie-Blanche, who is overjoyed, while Blanche-Marie thinks sadly and with a hint of despair of her
parents’ head clerk, the callow Aristide, whom she will have to marry. But, as theatrical convention dictates, the wily
and resourceful Marie-Blanche has realised that her sister secretly loves Gaston – while she, though flattered to have been
chosen by the dashing officer, cannot imagine herself living a life of idleness and forced social niceties. So she thinks up
the scheme of dressing Blanche-Marie and doing her hair exactly as the Marquise des Ifs looked at her age.
The resemblance is striking – she is the spitting image of her mother – and the conclusion is obvious. Blanche-Marie will
wed Gaston while Marie-Blanche, without regrets, will marry Aristide – and become one of the loveliest shopkeepers of
Les Halles.
On this amusing and good-natured basic framework, Messager skilfully wove a nimble, joyful score, as graceful as it is
invigorating. Beneath a superficial facility, the composer’s sureness of touch is expressed in all its plenitude. The melodies
are simple yet stylish, possessing an easy fluency; though classical in cut, they never sink into cliché, growing tender or
lively as the emotion dictates, from the most cheerful to the most restrained – we even come abruptly across a hymn-like
motif to remind us that Messager was a pupil of the École Niedermeyer. But if these straightforward, elegant melodies
are immediately attractive, it is their harmonisation and instrumentation that give them their true value. A refined
colourist, Messager dresses his orchestra and garnishes his tunes with elegance, varying the colours with a skill that
enables the band – a small one, since the pit of the Bouffes-Parisiens could not accommodate large forces – to sound as
sparkling and full-toned as a bigger formation. Claude Debussy, who appreciated Messager and his works, had a special
fondness for Les P’tites Michu – as did Fauré and Saint-Saëns, who always looked kindly on the music of their friend
Messager.
NEW RELEASE
André Messager
Le passeur de siècle
Christophe Mirambeau - ACTES SUD / PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE (2018) - publication date: 23 May 2018
The works of André Messager (1853-1929) are counted among the gems of French music.
This multitalented composer was equally successful in the fields of ballet and musical theatre – he
was a master of opéra comique and comédie chantée – and was, at the head of his orchestras,
regarded as one of the greatest French Wagner conductors. Forever young at heart and unfailingly
intelligent, Messager spent his whole life in a state of perpetual renewal: his astounding artistic
achievements allowed French music to effect a subtle transition from the century of Romanticism to
that of Modernism.
Christophe Mirambeau specialises in light opera genres and divides his time between writing, research into
the history of musical theatre and the production of works from the repertoires on which he is working.
ATHÉNÉE THÉÂTRE LOUIS-JOUVET 17PUBLICATIONS ABOUT CHARLES GOUNOD
ALREADY OUT
Charles Gounod Cinq-Mars
Cantatas and sacred music CHOR DES BAYERISCHEN
BRUSSELS PHILHARMONIC MÜNCHNER
FLEMISH RADIO CHOIR
RUNDFUNKORCHESTER
Hervé Niquet conductor
Ulf Schirmer conductor
with Gabrielle Philiponet,
with Véronique Gens,
Chantal Santon-Jeffery,
Mathias Vidal,
Judith van Wanroij, Caroline Meng,
Tassis Christoyannis,
Artavazd Sargsyan, Sébastien Droy,
Andrew Foster-Williams...
Yu Shao, Alexandre Duhamel,
Nicolas Courjal PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE
‘FRENCH OPERA’ SERIES
PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE VOL. XI - 2016
‘PRIX DE ROME’ SERIES
VOL. VI - 2018
Lettres de Charles Gounod à
POCKET
Pauline Viardot
Charles Gounod Coordinated by Melanie von
Mémoires d'un artiste
Goldbeck
Presented by Gérard Condé
ACTES SUD / PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE
ACTES SUD / PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE 2015
2018
RECENT AND FORTHCOMING RELEASES
Charles Gounod Complete set of string
quartets on historic
Saint-François d'Assise
orchestre de chambre de paris accentus
laurence equilbey instruments
World premiere recording
Cambini-Paris Quartet
GOUNOD SAINT FRANÇOIS D’ASSISE
stanislas de barbeyrac florian sempey
Hymne à sainte Cécile
Franz Liszt APARTÉ
world premiere recording LISZT LÉGENDE DE SAINTE CÉCILE
karine deshayes
Légende de sainte Cécile Recording supported by the
Palazzetto Bru Zane
ACCENTUS CHOIR Release date: April 2018
ORCHESTRE DE CHAMBRE
DE PARIS
Laurence Equilbey conductor
with Karine Deshayes,
Stanislas de Brabeyrac
PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE / NAÏVE
Release date: March 2018
Anthologie de mélodies Music for piano
Tassis Christoyannis baritone Roberto Prosseda piano
Jeff Cohen piano DECCA
APARTÉ / PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE Recording supported by the
Release date: June 2018 Palazzetto Bru Zane
Release date: April 2018
18PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord PARTNERS OF
37 (bis), boulevard de la Chapelle THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD
75010 Paris
Reservations +33 (0)1 46 07 34 50
from monday to friday from 5 P.M.
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and saturday from 2 P.M. to 7 P.M.
bouffesdunord.com
By Metro, La Chapelle line 2
(Note: not Porte de la Chapelle)
Metro: Gare du Nord, Lines 4 and 5
RER: B, D or E
Tickets 7 to 30 euros
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1, place Boieldieu 15, Avenue Montaigne
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Cité de la musique Maison de la Radio Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
Philharmonie de Paris Auditorium de Radio France Square de l’Opéra Louis-Jouvet
221, avenue Jean-Jaurès 116, avenue du Président Kennedy 7, rue Boudreau
75019 Paris 75016 Paris 75009 Paris
Reservations from Monday to Saturday Reservations +33 (0)1 56 40 15 16 Reservations +33 (0)1 53 05 19 19
from 11 am to 7 pm, from Monday to Saturday, athenee-theatre.com
on Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm from 11 am to 6 pm Metro Opéra lines 3, 7, 8,
+33 (0)1 44 84 44 84 maisondelaradio.fr Havre-Caumartin lines 3 e 9,
philharmoniedeparis.fr Metro Passy line 6, Saint-Lazare lines 12, 13, 14
Metro line 5, Porte de Pantin metro Ranelagh line 9 RER A e E
RER E then bus 151 metro Javel-André Citroën line 10 Tickets from 12 to 48 euros
Tramway T3b RER C
Bus lines 75 and 151 Tickets from 10 to 45 euros
Tickets from 10 to 50 euros
Musicological texts by:
Alexandre Dratwicki, Gérard Condé, Étienne Jardin, Paul Prévost 19THE PALAZZETTO BRU ZANE
CENTRE DE MUSIQUE ROMANTIQUE FRANÇAISE
The vocation of the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française is to favour the
rediscovery of the French musical heritage of the long nineteenth century (1780-1920) and obtain
international recognition for that repertory. Housed in Venice in a palazzo dating from 1695, specially
restored for the purpose, the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française is an
emanation of the Fondation Bru. Combining artistic ambition with high scientific standards, the Centre
reflects the humanist spirit that guides the actions of its parent foundation. The Palazzetto Bru Zane’s
main activities, carried out in close collaboration with numerous partners, are research, the publication of
books and scores, the production and international distribution of concerts, support for teaching projects
and the production of sound recordings.
Palazzetto Bru Zane
Centre de musique romantique française
San Polo 2368, 30125 Venice - Italy
tel. +39 041 52 11 005
contact@bru-zane.com
parisfestival.bru-zane.com Digital data on the
#festivalPBZparis nineteenth-century French repertory The French Romantic music webradio
BRU ZANE BRU ZANE
BRU-ZANE.COM
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