Seven Stones is a one-act opera commissioned by the
Aix-en-Provence Festival that had its world premiere at the small Théâtre du
Jeu de Paume on July 7, 2018. The opera is by composer Ondřej Adámek based on a
libretto by Sjon. It is described as an a capella work for four
singers and a twelve member choir but there are string and percussion
instruments. It is sung in English.
The performance lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes but
the libretto is rich in incident and range and is divided in some dozen parts.
The Stone Collector (Nicolas Simeha) gets around, you may say. We find
ourselves, among other places, in a city in Central Europe, in a bar in Buenos
Aires and in the New Testament with the Adulterous Woman about to be stoned. Needless to say a lot of people are hit on
the head by a stone.
The four soloists tell a number of tales including
one about snow and the word is pronounced snow wo wo wo wo. Other words are
similarly elongated. We hear the story of The Blind Poet of Buenos Aires, the tale
of the Young Sailor from Boston and others.
A new work that may be trying to expand our
horizons should not be judged hastily and I will wait to see the opera again or
hear a recording. There is clearly more to it than I got on a first hearing.
ORFEO & MANJUN
The broad Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence’s main
shopping street was turned into a theatre for a single performance of Orfeo
& Majnun. A huge stage was erected for the performance of Western
and Middle Eastern music based on the myth of the unfortunate Orpheus who lost
his Eurydice and went to Hades in search of her.
The beautiful Layla (Nai Tamish Barghouti) has
fallen in love with Qays but her father disapproves of the match and calls Qays, Majnun (Loay Srouji) meaning a fool. Barghouti and
Srouji have beautiful voices and they sing some melodious love songs as he goes
into the desert to live alone and she writes poetry about her love that she
throws to the wind. Unfortunately her father forces her to marry someone else.
Photo Aix-en-Provence Festival
Orpheus’s (Yoann Dubruque) singing is of such
surpassing beauty that animals leave the forest to listen to him. He and the
lovely Eurydice (Judith Fa) do marry but alas she dies. Orpheus vows to go to
Hades to rescue his beloved. He encounters Charon, the deliverer of souls
across the River Styx and the three-headed dog Cerberus who guards the
entrance. He convinces them to let him through.
We are led through the tragic stories by a Narrator (Sachli
Gholamaizad) and the rest of their stories follow with the inevitability of myths.
The opera was written by Moneim Adwan, Howard
Moody and Dick van der Harst based on the conception of Airan Berg. The
libretto is by Martina Winkel. It is directed by Berg and Winkel and conducted
by Bassem Akiki.
More than a dozen choirs participate together
with an intercultural ensemble of the Youth Orchestra of the Mediterranean. As you
may gather, this is opera on a grand scale intended to entertain the thousands
of people seated or standing in the Cours Mirabeau.
This is obviously and inter-cultural programme integrating
Western and Middle Eastern music and singing. It is a marvelous, perfectly timed
idea, done extremely well and a delight to watch and hear.
__________
Seven Stones
by Ondřej
Adámek opened on July 7
and will be performed a total of six times until July 17, 2018 on various dates
at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume. Orfeo & Majnun was performed once
on July 28, 2018 at the Cours Mirabeau, Aix-en-Provence, France. www.festival-aix.com
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