Du chœur à l'ouvrage

Stranded on an island after the boat that was taking them to their Christmas concert-place sank, a group of young singers find themselves on their own, with nothing much to do except keep the flame of the musical work. Despair, struggle for power, anti-sol-fa rebellion, vocal narcissism or playful rehearsals will lead to a dramatic dénouement : the breaking of the blue-eyed boy’s voice … Du chœur à l’ouvrage [A Heart-soaring Choir] is an opera that tells about childhood, music learning, and what is sacrificed as we grow up. On the set, forty children, no adults. They are the performers and characters of the customized story imagined by Marie Desplechin. The librettist took her inspiration from their lives, personalities and the teaching methods of choral singing, to sublimate her collected material into a fantastic, initiatory,  story that is in turns moving, farcical or disturbing. This was the opportunity for the composer Benjamin Dupé to write music that crosses the archetypes of the opera – airs, recitatives,  dramatic choruses – but also offers voice rituals and play with space, drawing its inventiveness in the endless sound possibilities the voice can suggest beyond singing. Precisely orchestrated for the musicians of the ensemble L’Instant Donné, occupying the resonant staging of Olivier Thomas, the music even invades the singers ‘s bodies, who move and heartily play under choreographer Ana Gabriel Castro’s direction.

Coproduction : Comme je l’entends, les productions ; Théâtre de Caen ; Nouveau théâtre de Montreuil - centre dramatique national ; Ville de Marseille – Opéra ; Pôle Arts de la Scène - Friche la Belle de Mai ; Théâtre Durance, scène conventionnée de Château-Arnoux / Saint-Auban ; Festival d’Aix-en-Provence ; Le Grand Théâtre de Provence ; L’Instant Donné ; Maîtrise de Radio France / This project receives support from the French government for the writing of an original musical work, from the aid scheme Carte blanche aux artistes - Production Résidence de la Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, from Adami and from the Orange Foundation for musical sponsorship.