Picture a day like this
George Benjamin
Opera in one act.
Text by Martin Crimp.
First performed at the Jeu de Paume Theatre in Aix-en-Provence on 5 July 2023.
New production.
Co-commissioned and co-produced by the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique, the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, the Oper Köln and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.
Infos
Strasbourg
Opéra
Without intermission
Prologue
One hour before each performance, a playwright will give you a short 30-minute introduction.
With the support of Fidelio.
Cast
Direction musicale Alphonse Cemin Mise en scène, décors, lumières, dramaturgie Daniel Jeanneteau, Marie-Christine Soma Costumes Marie La Rocca Vidéo Hicham Berrada
Artists
La Femme Ema Nikolovska Zabelle Nikola Hillebrand L’Amante, la Compositrice Beate Mordal L’Amant, l’Assistant Cameron Shahbazi L’Artisan, le Collectionneur John Brancy Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg
Presentation
“No sooner had my child started to speak whole sentences than he had died. I wound him in the customary silk for burning—was angry—but I washed him—washed him—wound him—closed his eyes. But when the women came to take him—take him for burning—I said to them: no. […] cold earth—dead stems of flowers come to life again—why not—why not my son? The women smiled. One led me quietly to the window—said— 'Find one happy person in this world and cut one button from their sleeve. Do it before night and your child will live.' —then she gave me this page—torn from an old book. She said: it tells you where to look and who to interrogate. One happy person. You have until night.”
Composer George Benjamin and dramatist Martin Crimp set the world of opera alight with the triumphant 2012 premiere of “Written on Skin”, now a global success. After two large-scale works, their fourth opus is a return to the expressive versatility of chamber opera. Drawing on a variety of literary and philosophical traditions, “Picture a day like this” is an inspiring tale of human nature told through a multifaceted mosaic of music and narrative. Daniel Jeanneteau and Marie-Christine Soma’s powerful staging shifts between realism and dreamlike fantasy. Alphonse Cemin, who knows Benjamin’s work intimately, is the musical director of this intensely emotional production.
