The Breasts of Tiresias
Francis Poulenc
Nouvelle production.
Opéra Volant.
Comic opera in a prologue and two acts.
Libretto by the composer after the eponymous play by Guillaume Apollinaire.
Premiered on June 3, 1947 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
Adaptation for two pianos by Benjamin Britten and Viola Thunnard.
Infos
Colmar
Théâtre municipal de Colmar
Mulhouse
La Sinne
Strasbourg
CMD, Cité de la Musique et de la Danse
En langue française.
Sans entracte.
Cast
Responsable musicale Sandrine Abello Mise en scène Jean-François Kessler Décors, costumes Emmanuelle Bischoff Collaboration aux costumes Elisabeth Kinderstuth Lumières Arnaud Viala Opéra Studio de l’Opéra national du Rhin
Artists
Thérèse, la Cartomancienne (en alternance) Jessica Hopkins, Louisa Stirland Le Mari Pierre Romainville Le Gendarme, un monsieur barbu Thomas Chenhall Le Directeur, Monsieur Presto, le Fils Eduard Ferenczi Gurban Monsieur Lacouf, le Journaliste Massimo Frigato La Marchande de journaux Inès Prevet Une dame élégante Brigitta Listra Une autre dame (en alternance) Jessica Hopkins, Louisa Stirland
Presentation
“No, husband of mine! You will not make me do what you want. I am a feminist, and I do not recognize the authority of man. Besides, I want to do as I please.” Bored of her domestic and submissive life, Thérèse dreams of becoming a politician, a mathematician, an artist, a general, or even president of the republic. When her breasts turn into balloons and float away, Thérèse marches off to conquer the world under the name of General Tiresias. Left alone to combat her campaign against childbirth, her husband discovers a flare for paternity, giving birth to 40,049 children in a single day. A feat that attracts as much curiosity as it does concern: although they say that people are the best resource, so many mouths to feed could ultimately spell disaster for Zanzibar.
Apollinaire wrote his silly, crude and thoroughly absurd surrealist play Les Mamelles de Tirésias during the First World War. It struck both a chord and a nerve with its radically contemporary style and exploration of gender identity, gender roles, and how love comes in myriad forms. During the Second World War, Poulenc adapted the story into a funny yet emotional comic opera in which each song is inspired by a different musical style or pastiche. Britten loved the piece so much that he composed an adaptation for two pianos in 1955 to make it easier to take on the road. It is this “mobile version” suited to all ages that the artists of the Opéra Studio perform in a regional tour staged by Jean-François Kessler, who transports spectators to a paradisiacal beach in the insouciant and carefree days of 1950s France.
