Voices, music and the listener's imagination as a backdrop.
The Opéra national du Rhin (OnR) has chosen, despite its closure to the public, to maintain its festival dedicated to Lebanon with a “
first birth
” in radio version of the opera
Hémon
created for the occasion.
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Saturday, 8 p.m., the classically ideal moment to unveil a new musical work, that of the Lebanese composer.
But this world premiere only happens on the radio, live on
France Musique
.
The absent audience, the Strasbourg opera hall is upside down: the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the Lebanese-Polish conductor Bassem Akiki, is deployed on the stage, the OnR choir, masked, is scattered over the parterre.
The soloists take their places on the blocked orchestra pit.
The lights in the room remain on.
The opera, which revisits the fate of Antigone's fiancé, a secondary character in Sophocles' Greek tragedy, here embodied by the countertenor Raffaele Pe, does not look at itself, it is listened to.
Scheduled to open the Lebanese edition of the interdisciplinary Arsmondo festival, this order from the OnR to Zad Moultaka was initially to be given on stage from March 20 to April 11, but the Covid-19 epidemic decided otherwise.
First birth
“
A video retransmission would not do justice to the total art dimension of the spectacle.
So we decided that we were going to take a first step of creation with the creation of music,
”explains to AFP Alain Perroux, director general of the Opéra national du Rhin, managed by the cities of Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse. .
A kind of first birth, listenable in replay for eleven days on the Internet, which should be followed by a second.
"
A creation, it must be given to an audience at a given time, it was designed for that
", considers Alain Perroux, who hopes to reprogram
Hémon
"
in its entirety in three or four years
".
Until then, the listener can count on the music "
very human and very inhabited
" of the work in nine paintings, on a libretto by the philosopher Paul Audi, "
to trigger his imagination
", hopes the director of the OnR. .
As when the singers of the choir tap on the metal foot of their desk to embody the rage and anger of the discovery of the death of Antigone, daughter of Oedipus.
Zad Moultaka considers the sound of percussion as "
very important
".
"
For me, it's really the sound of the war I suffered when I was little,
" the Lebanese explained Friday during a presentation of
Hémon
broadcast on Facebook.
“
But when I became a composer, it was for me a way of saying: 'Now it's me who decides'
” when it thunders, he added.
Part two in June
In addition to this opera, the Arsmondo festival will unveil until March 28, with free and open access on its website, 48 different digital content (filmed readings, interviews, films, music, etc.) around Lebanon.
Created under the leadership of the previous director of the OnR, Eva Kleinitz, who died in 2019, this artistic festival "
honors artists, writers and intellectuals from beyond Europe
", recalled Christian Longchamp. , its artistic director.
The first edition was devoted to Japan, the second to Argentina.
The third on India was brought to a halt by the first confinement, a few days before the presentation to the public of the creation “
Until the Lions
”.
This adaptation of the Mahabharata, one of the founding epics of Hindu mythology, is currently rescheduled for the fall of 2022.
As for this Lebanese edition, a second part, the programming of which is not yet unveiled, is scheduled for June.
By betting on a reopening of cultural places by then.
“
Because there are certain things that are more difficult to transcribe digitally, typically concerts,
” explains Alain Perroux.
What if everything was still closed in June?
"
Honestly, I haven't asked myself that question yet, I don't know, we'll see…
"
