Guercœur
Albéric Magnard
Nouvelle production de l’OnR.
Opera in three acts.
Libretto by the composer.
First performed on 23 April 1931 at the Opéra de Paris.
Part of the Arsmondo Utopia Festival.
Infos
Mulhouse
La Filature
Strasbourg
Opéra
Entractes compris.
Une heure avant chaque représentation nous vous proposons une brève introduction de 30 minutes pour vous familiariser avec l’œuvre et la mise en scène que vous allez découvrir.
Cast
Direction musicale Ingo Metzmacher à Strasbourg, Anthony Fournier à Mulhouse Mise en scène Christof Loy Décors Johannes Leiacker Costumes Ursula Renzenbrink Lumières Olaf Winter Chœur de l’Opéra national du Rhin, Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg
Artists
Guercœur Stéphane Degout Vérité Catherine Hunold Gisèle Antoinette Dennefeld Heurtal Julien Henric Bonté Eugénie Joneau Beauté Catherine Trottmann Souffrance Adriana Bignagni Lesca L’Ombre d’une femme Marie Lenormand L’Ombre d’une vierge Cassandra Wright L’Ombre d’un poète Glen Cunningham
Presentation
In the ethereal afterlife, there is no time or space. The shades, freed from their earthly cares, celebrate the greatness of the Goddess of Truth. Shrouded in eternal glory, she sits triumphant, flanked by Beauty and Goodness, while at her feet lies Suffering in her mantle of blood. In the midst of this chorus of praise, a discordant lament rises: “To live! Who will give me back the thrill of life?” The voice belongs to Guercœur, who died in the prime of life after falling in love with Giselle and freeing his people from a tyrant, assisted by his friend Heurtal. Unable to rest, Guercœur begs to return to his fleshly form. Truth warns him: two years have already passed on Earth where nothing lasts forever. His fall from paradise could be brutal…
A man with principles, a feminist and a Dreyfusard, Albéric Magnard (1865-1914) was like his character: a hero who died for the freedom of his country. He was killed in September 1914 while single-handedly trying to protect his property from German soldiers who burned down his house in retaliation. Most of his unpublished manuscripts were destroyed, including Guercœur, which was later miraculously reconstructed. After a long spell in the purgatory of forgotten masterpieces, this fascinating opera, whose magnificent score contains post-Wagnerian flashes transmuted by the colours of French music, returns to a French opera stage for the first time since its premiere in 1931, thanks to Ingo Metzmacher, Christof Loy and Stéphane Degout.
In French
Overtitled in French, German
