Le Balcon – Eötvös
World premiere at Aix Festival
Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by composer
Hilary Summers – Irma
Morenike Fadayomi – Carmen
______
For his second opera ‘Le Balcon’ Peter Eötvös searched for a text in which the action on the stage was to ’explode’. He finally found it in Jean Genet’s play of the same name: ’With Genet, one can take it literally; a revolution rages in the streets, the Palais Royal is blown up, while the customers in the specially equipped salons of the brothel « Le Balcon » are dressed with the properties and costumes of major social positions: They want to become a bishop, judge, general, even if for only half an hour. The girls help them, and Madame collects the money for this dubious pleasure. The piece is a wonderful, constantly sparkling role play, a theatre within the theatre.’ (Peter Eötvös, in: 2003 programme of the Theatre Freiburg)
Peter Eötvös insistently emphasizes the close connection between language and music which is absolutely necessary for a performance in French (with overtitles). The numerous subtleties of Genet’s language are preserved that way and are more or less translated into music by Eötvös: ’My music sometimes « is also dressed » with « French-style manners », but most important to me was to let the marvellously frivolous, poetic language of Genet remain understandable. I therefore used many grotesque, comedy-like cabaret-music elements, and sometimes my music is close to the French chanson, with Fréhel, Jacques Brel, Yves Montand, Leo Ferré being my models.’ (Peter Eötvös, ibid.)
THE BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC 