If there is a story that is hardly laughable, it is the legend of Medea. One of the most terrible mythological figures, the magician helps the hero Jason to seize the Golden Fleece but, betrayed by the one she loves, sinks into a murderous madness. Until committing the irreparable by murdering his two children. She thus completes a series of crimes which make her an incarnation of unhappy passion pushed to its climax.
However, this dark intrigue, which Euripides made a tragedy in 431 before our era, gave rise to comic parodies many centuries later. ” This genre of parody was very popular in the 17th and 18th centuriesexplains conductor Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas. From a serious play or opera performed in an official theater, this was an irreverent variation aimed at street audiences. In Paris, the Foire Saint-Laurent had made it a specialty, the genre also spreading outside the capital.
The alliance of all styles
The tragedy of Corneille, the opera of Marc-Antoine Charpentier or that of Joseph-François Salomon, all depicting the destiny of Medea, were thus cheerfully revisited, further proof of the success of the original works. «Made fun of, the adventures of heroic characters touched a wide audience, seduced by the mix of genrescontinues the conductor. In a form of prefiguration of the operetta or the musical, we applauded the music and the text, the mime and the dance…” It was not uncommon for artists to take the opportunity to mock the powerful, mock the powers, all to fashionable tunes and in a good mood!
Using “materials” drawn from the musical heritage of the time, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas took up the challenge of reconstructing “a musical fresco” around Medea. He therefore summoned the best composers of the time, Charpentier of course, but also Lully and Rameau, to weave Medea and Jasonwhimsical and contrasting score: “We project the modern listener into a whirlwind of dramatic tunes immediately contradicted by comical vaudevilles, without forgetting dances such as they flourished in baroque operas. We will also move from spoken to sung, which requires reactivity and flexibility on the part of the interpreters. »
Between song and speech
To embody the magician, the mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot, a bronze voice well versed in the repertoire of the Grand Siècle and a fiery temperament that works wonders in laughter as in tears. In Jason, Flannan Obé, who came to him from the world of theater but now very courted by the world of opera for his touch of lunar fantasy. «You will see that he does not really have the good role, ambitious but not very autonomouswarns Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas. In general, men do not arouse much admiration. The women are much more interesting, from the powerful Medea to her rival Creusa, an example of ardent and sincere love. »
A tribute to the trestles that are assembled and disassembled according to the performances, the decor by Pierre Lebon evokes the ship of the Argonauts led by Jason. But a wrecked ship, stained with blood. «The wood, the fabrics and the ropes of this scenic device also remind us that the machinery of the theater was directly borrowed from that of the navy.», emphasizes the conductor. Insisting on the poetics of travel from the founding myth to us, passing through the Baroque period. We also recognize the wanderings of Medea, a stranger wherever she goes, accepted but not loved, feared but so alone. »
So many serious subjects, echoing contemporary migrations, which humor defuses without denying them. «The premiere of the show at the Hardelot festival was very well received. Spectators appreciated this stylistic freedom and the desacralization of opera, a genre sometimes considered intimidating. » Under the Ancien Régime, thwarting political censorship and other aesthetic prohibitions, parody contributed to what was not yet called cultural democratization. A sharing of imaginations, even a response to social fractures, that our 21st century could meditate on…
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In practice
Medea and Jasonunder the direction of Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas at the head of the ensemble Les Surprises and in a staging by Pierre Lebon, to see and hear on Wednesday July 19 at the festival Radio France Montpellier. Then on August 20 at Sinfonia festival in Périgord. Tour in 2024 in Namur (Belgium), Limoges, Tourcoing.
The Radio France Montpellier Festival is held until July 28, offering recitals, symphonic concerts, chamber music… The classical repertoire is honored but also jazz, not to mention a focus on young talent. The antenna of France Music relays a large part of the programming.
2023-07-18 12:25:16
#Montpellier #bursts #laughter #Médée
