2024-09-13 11:46:05
Circe, the sorceress, warned him. No one can resist the siren song. They make the most heroic people, and drag them down to the bottom of the abyss. But Odysseus wants to hear them and Homer tells how he was tied to the mast of his ship by his men who had their ears blocked with wax. Reasonable Ulysses who protects himself from sweet woe. A sensitive Ulysses who wants to enjoy these unique things.
From dawn to dusk, the sound has enchanted musicians and listeners alike. To raise a soul or lose it, open a path to heaven or drag it into the depths of hell. Ancient sirens, biblical snakes or medieval enchantresses, these figures “It seems that we have invented as soon as the difference between obedience and disobedience, between right and wrong, between living or destruction”philosopher Jean Starobinski writes (1). They use their voice as a filter that penetrates the body, covering the psyche, destroying the desire.
Duel of enchantresses
The 45th edition of Festival of Ambronay dedicated to sound in all its forms offers on Saturday September 14 a rarity from the Italian lyrical repertoire by Francesca Caccini, a famous composer from Florence at the beginning of the 17th century. “Child Alcina, a festive play created to honor the visit of Prince Sigismund of Poland to the city of Medici, cast two magicians with opposing powers.says tenor and conductor Emiliano Gonzalez Toro. Alcina bewitches the knight Ruggiero with whom she is in love to distract him from his heroic work, while Melissa uses her beauty to bring him back to his senses. »
A vocal duet which allows Francesca Caccini to carry a rich expressive palette, from tenderness to anger, from inebriation to weeping: “In opera, the magicians and even more so the magicians give the composers a thousand and one opportunities to show their virtuosity, to experiment with exciting timbres and wonderful harmonies. »
As for the public, they allow themselves to be included in the following musical networks: “The character of this show is to hold hearts, eyes and ears in equal attention”, La Bruyère’s composition in it The characters.
Things make pictures
Intending to challenge all observers through diverse styles and musical repetitions, the Ambronay festival lives in a dazzling light from 17th century Italy to 20th century cinema … Now Les Voix Animés, a vocal ensemble led by baritone Luc Coadou, have imagined. A sound film concert (October 6) revolves around two short films shot by Chaplin in 1917: Charlotte police etc Charlotte ran away. “Four things unite in the same vibration to find the right emotion in accordance with the image”, explains Luc Coadou.
Written by Alexis Roy, their soundtrack is woven with songs and borrowings from Bach and Verdi, “but also some noise effects and other whistles”. A child of the ball, Chaplin was himself a musician and composed, from THEcity lights, the theme of his feature film. “We play with the color of our voices, beautiful music or sad music, and the plasticity of onomatopoeia to match the size of the images,” continued Luc Coadou. He is also sure that every song inspires the listeners “indoor cinema. As evidence, when we are overcome by the charm of things, we close our eyes to enter another world. “
Voice of Nature
If something captivates in this way, it is also because it connects us closely to nature, until we lost Eden. Where do birds fly freely between heaven and earth? “The bird sings beautifully, so naturally, where the singer must work for hours and hours,” smiled Florence Bolton who, with her group La Rêveuse, resumed her show at Ambronay The Nightingale and the Emperor of China inspired by a story about Andersen (September 21).
Flutes but other instruments such as the harpsichord – especially by François Couperin – and, of course, the human voice, try to imitate and compete with the winged people. “In Andersen, the mechanical nightingale replaces a real bird in the king’s heart. Until the palpitations of life regain their right. » Because there is no substitute for the real thing, the arrow that spreads from one to the other.
(1) The EnchantressesLevel, 2005.
A thriving program
The 45th Ambronay Festival in Ain, from September 13 to October 6, takes place in the Abbey that was founded during the reign of Charlemagne and which became a cultural meeting center in 2003.
At four long weekendsfrom Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, more than 80 concerts, workshops, music tours and family shows.
Among the artists and collections on display : Close to your ears by Robin Pharo, I Gemelli by Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, mezzo-sopranos Lea Desandre and Adèle Charvet, choir Spirito by Nicole Corti, Les Itinérantes, Les Arts Florissants, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, Cappella Mediterranea by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Cris Paris by Geoffroy Jourdain…
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