2023-07-03 10:00:07
Rehearsal of “The Threepenny Opera” at the Comédie-Française: Birane Ba in the role of Macheath and Elsa Lepoivre in that of Jenny, in May. JEAN-LOUIS FERNANDEZ/COLL. FRENCH COMEDY
A small space in the basement of the Comédie-Française, Seigner room. Four windowless walls, but an armada of tables and pianos: grand pianos, uprights and even a Roland digital keyboard. It is in this place dedicated to music that the resident Birane Ba takes his singing lesson on May 25. At the piano, Alphonse Cemin, musical assistant and vocal coach commissioned for the show by the ensemble Le Balcon. In vocal technique, the soprano Elodie Fonnard, who has replaced since September 2022 the unsinkable Nicole Fallien, incidentally teacher of Philippe Jaroussky, who remained at the helm of the singing class for fifty-three years.
Read also the 2010 archive: Knowing and taming your voice
Birane Ba is tall, thin, dark sweater, mastic pants and black Nike shoes. The energetic fellow was chosen for the role of Macheath, known as “Mackie-le-Surineur”, hero of the famous threepenny opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, a new version of which in French will open the 75th edition of the Festival international d’art lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence (from July 4 to 24), before being revived in September at the Comédie- French.
It’s 11 o’clock. It is early. The actor does not have his body awake. Especially since he does not play sports at the moment, he says. Presently, the thug, condemned to death, will sing the “Epitaph”, claiming from humanity a vibrant forgiveness in the form of a plea. For the moment, it is necessary to warm the voice. First stretch the arms very high. Breathe, feet hip-width apart, knees like “little car headlights that illuminate little squirrels on the sides. The night is very long”chants Elodie Fonnard softly while the actor releases his tongue and jaw.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Birane Ba, Vernon’s lightning journey at the Comédie-Française
The hissed “s” of snake woke up the perineum. Before the vocalizations: the ups and downs on the well-pointed, very clear “i”, between the two eyes; same thing on the “o”, relaxed, always on the octave. “Where you are, I want to stay”, modulates the actor while Alphonse Cemin, from the keyboard, gives him the reply in a head voice. After the “Love Duo”, the “Ballade du Mac” in the form of tango. Encouraged by Elodie Fonnard, the young man resumed “I remember this time when, already, / We shared our life, she and I”while Alphonse Cemin whispers: “More sensual: in the mind of a German, tango means sensual. »
On tip-toes
Here is finally the dreaded Epitaph: “O human hearts that live after us, / Do not be hardened against us…” After a first verse that looks like a prayer, the second, more biting, acerbic, incisive, which speaks of hanging, of washing rain, of crows’ beaks “drunk with pestilence”. Suddenly the royal grace will come: standing on tiptoe, the actor exults a thunderous: “I am saved! And delivered! » This is indeed the end of the course. The actor, very smiling, is visibly relieved and happy. “I had never worked so much on singing he confides. At the Conservatory, we had a bit of vocal technique, but I’ve been on this opera for a year. Since I can’t read music, I had to memorize everything by ear. »
You have 72.58% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
#Festival #dAixenProvence #Threepenny #Opera #voice #actors #French