Press kit - Chants libres

PRESS PACKAGE
L’ENFANT DES GLACES (2000)
ELECTR’OPERA | voice, tape and live digital processing
A Chants Libres production presented in partnership with Hexagram
UQAM and Le Vivier, and in collaboration with Montréal en Lumière and
Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques.
February 28, March 1 and 2, 2013 | Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, Gesù, Montréal
CREATIVE TEAM
Music Zack Settel | Original concept and Stage Direction Pauline Vaillancourt |
Lighting François Roupinian | Videography Yves Labelle | Scenography Pauline
Vaillancourt and Martin Boisjoly | Costumes Caroline Mercier | Make-up
Jacques-Lee Pelletier | Choreography Johanne Madore | Machine design Alain
Cadieux | Mummy design Sylvie Boucher
PERFORMERS
Ghislaine Deschambault, mezzo-soprano | Jean Maheux, actor/baritone
LIBRETTO
Two fragments of texts by the writers Gérard De Nerval (XIXth century, France) and
Francisco Gomez de Quevedo (XVIIth century, Spain), translated into Armenian,
Japanese, Persian, Russian, Finnish and Pular.
SYNOPSIS
The Ice Child reappears to haunt us, after being buried in an icecap of the Andes
Mountains for 500 years, becoming the shadow of man, the voice of women,
haunting us to the point of madness. Time, which learns nothing from history, by
turns slow and whirling, marks the life of the characters as it passes, drawing them
into a frantic, desperate and passionate chase. Dizzy from the excitement of the
moment, swept into the whirlwind of the future, will they understand the story of The
Ice Child, will they be nourished by her song, will they be able to hold onto to time
as it drifts by?… Life fights on and clings to existence, incredibly, furiously, and
without remorse.
TIME OF PERFORMANCE
65 minutes without intermission.
CHANTS LIBRES – L’Enfant des glaces (2000) | February 28, March 1 and 2, 2013, at the Gesù Media: Marie Marais |514‐845‐2821 | [email protected] TEXTS
“Through the clouds being
chased away by the wind, I
saw many moons passing
by very rapidly. I thought
that the Earth had left its
orbit and that it had
become like a boat without
sails, traveling to, or away,
from the stars that were
getting bigger or smaller.”
— Gérard de Nerval
“Yesterday has left,
tomorrow does not yet
exist,
Today is advancing without
rest:
I am one, who was, who
will be, who is, very tired.”
— Francisco de Quevedo
ABOUT THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTION (2000, Musée d’art contemporain de
Montréal)
Invited as the artist in residence at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal for two
months, Pauline Vaillancourt, the Artistic Director of CHANTS LIBRES, undertook
research, with the help of Zack Settel, on interactivity and experimentation on techniques
in direct sound, while at the same time exploring new ways of singing and moving that can
influence the musical content. The concept of L’Enfant des glaces was based on an
archaeological discovery made in 1999 at 6 739 meters of altitude, in the Andes
mountains, and which was covered by the media throughout the world: 5 centuries after
the sacrifice of three children by Incan priests on an Argentinean summit, three tiny
mummies were found intact, preserved for all time in the ice. One of those three children
was at the heart of the opera in September 2000 and the result was an impressive
contemporary and timeless allegorical fresco on the state of the world.
NOTES ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
After a remarkable premiere in 2000 at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal,
L’Enfant des glaces was invited to the 6 Tage Oper Festival in Düsseldorf, Germany in
2002. The production, lauded by the critics, was then remounted as part of the OFF
Festival des Amériques in Montreal, in June, 2003. L’Enfant des glaces is now being
produced in Montreal, February 28, March 1 and 2, 2003, at the Gesù as part of the
Festival Montréal en Lumière and the Festival Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques.
THE OPERA ON DVD
The DVD of L’Enfant des glaces is available from ATMA Classique.
CHANTS LIBRES | PRODUCER
Chants Libres, the lyric creation company, produces and tours new opera in various forms,
in which artistic and technological innovations are brought together. Since founding the
company in 1990, the Artistic Director, Pauline Vaillancourt, has been producing daring
productions with artists from various disciplines, and talented singers who are attracted by
this new vocal repertoire.
14 NEW OPERAS | AWARDS
Alexandra (2012) by Zack Settel and Yan Muckle | L’Eau qui danse, la pomme qui chante
et l’oiseau qui dit la vérité (2009, enchanted opera) by Gilles Tremblay and Pierre Morency
[Prix Opus 2009-10, Best new work of the year, composer of the year and Musical event of
the year] | Alternate Visions (2007, augmented opera) by John Oliver and Genni Gunn |
L’Archange (2005, oper’installation) by Louis Dufort and Alexis Nouss | Pacamambo l’opéra
(2002) by Zack Settel and Wajdi Mouawad | Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse (2001) by José
Evangelista and Alexis Nouss | L’Enfant des glaces (2000, electr’opera) by Zack Settel and
Pauline Vaillancourt | Lulu, le chant souterrain (2000, techn’opera) by Alain Thibault and Yan
Muckle | Yo soy la desintegracion (1997) by Jean Piché and Yan Muckle [Prix Opus 1999,
Recording of the year] | Le Vampire et la nymphomane (1996) by Serge Provost and Claude
Gauvreau [Prix Opus 1996, Best new work of the year] | Chants du Capricorne (1995) by
Giacinto Scelsi and Pauline Vaillancourt [Prix de musique contemporaine Québec-Flandre,
Belgique 1996] | La Princesse blanche (1994) by Bruce Mather and Renald Tremblay | Il
suffit d’un peu d’air (1992) by Claude Ballif and Renald Tremblay | Ne blâmez jamais les
bédouins (1991) by Alain Thibault and René-Daniel Dubois.
Arias (2011), excerpts of the 13 operas created during the company’s first 20 years.
CHANTS LIBRES – L’Enfant des glaces (2000) | February 28, March 1 and 2, 2013, at the Gesù Media: Marie Marais |514‐845‐2821 | [email protected] L’ENFANT DES GLACES
REVIEWS
« L’Enfant des glaces is a welcome draft of fresh air. Its
music, characters and setting, tinger in the mind. The
contemporary music/theatrical community in our
country, with its desparate, timid, bottom line-oriented
mindset, rarely manages to produce or present works
of such provocative originality. L’Enfant des glaces
give us a glimpse into a bolder, less compromised
artistic milieu. »
Arlo McKinnon, Opera News Online (É-U), fév.2007
« If anyone has any doubts about wherther Quebec is a
distinct culture within Canada, they should sit down
with the work of Robert Lepage, Claude Vivier and
Pauline Vaillancourt. (…) what we see is fascinating.
Visually and aurally, this opera is mesmerizing.»
« Une éblouissante réussite (…) un électr-opéra où la
nouvelle technologie sert de réceptacle à une idée
artistique plus que forte. La musique est formidable. Les
sons préenregistrés de Settel sont d’un raffinement et
d’une beauté incroyables et se mêlent avec une intimité
si grande avec les sons en temps réel qu’on reste les
bras ballants devant l’accomplissement technologique.
Magnifique effet vidéo splendidement intégré au
spectacle avec lequel elle fait organiquement corps. Le
jeu de Maheux et Vaillancourt est époustouflant…S’il y a
un spectacle à voir, c’est celui-là. (…) Qui doute de la
vérité de la création se verra confondu devant son
triomphe et surtout ébloui de ce que l’âme humaine sait
encore imaginer. »
François Tousignant, Le Devoir, 14 sept. 2000
John Terauds, The Toronto Star, 30 nov. 2006
st
« L’Enfant was a magical union of 21 century
technology with creative artistic vision. Percussive and
rhythmic musical gestures, the dramatic, techno-like
lighting and the simple, creative staging pushed
operatic boundaries in new and exciting directions.»
Matthew McFarlane, Opera Canada, 22 sept. 2003
« La pièce s’élève dans la tête et la fantaisie du
spectateur (…) Une œuvre particulièrement poétique
de Zack Settel (…) émouvante interprétation de
Pauline Vaillancourt. Elle est une soprano fantastique
avec une voix touchante, expressive, puissante et une
sonorité pure. La production de l’Enfant des glaces
trouble l’âme et dérange le spectateur mais elle a
aussi quelque chose de réconciliant.»
Reihnische Post, Düsseldorf (Allemagne) 1e mars 2002
« Une musique aux effets subtils (…) Les éclairages de
François Roupinian font à eux seuls le décor (…) Un
opéra
expérimental
rempli
de
surprises
et
d’originalité… »
Alain Brunet, La Presse, 9 sept. 2000
« La récente production de Chants Libres se caractérise
par une atmosphère envoûtante qui enveloppe
immédiatement le spectateur et ne le laisse émerger de
son songe éveillé qu’à la toute fin du spectacle. »
Alexandre Lazaridès, Revue Jeu 97, déc. 2000
« Un opéra électronique inventif. Un spectacle qui met à
l’honneur les rapports entre l’art et les nouvelles
technologies (…) Le rideau d’eau traversé par la
projection vidéo d’Yves Labelle (…) Le regard est fasciné
par ce décor mis en valeur par de très beaux éclairages
de François Roupinian. On ne peut qu’admirer la
virtuosité de Pauline Vaillancourt et s’incliner devant le
travail de Jean Maheux. »
CHANTS LIBRES – L’Enfant des glaces (2000) | February 28, March 1 and 2, 2013, at the Gesù Media: Marie Marais |514‐845‐2821 | [email protected] L’ENFANT DES GLACES
BIOS
Zack Settel | Composer
Born in New York, Zack Settel completed a BFA in musical composition at the California Institute of the Arts. His
passion for using technology in musical production and performance brought him to Paris from 1986 to 1995, at
IRCAM, (Institut de recherche et coordination acoustique/musique) directed by Pierre Boulez. Back in North
America, he now teaches at McGill University as the director of the Music Technology Sector, and at the Faculty of
Music at the University of Montreal, as an associate professor, where he teaches composition and is the director of
the Laboratoire audio volumétrique. He also works with the Centre for Intelligent Machines at McGill University,
focusing primarily on “immersive” music.
Zack Settel has composed chamber and studio music, as well as scores for film, video, theatre, dance and opera.
His music uses state of the art interactive electroacoustic systems. His works has been published by Éditions
Ambrioso (Paris), recorded on the CENTAUR, ICMA, MIT Press and empreintes DIGITALes labels, and performed in
North and South America, as well as in Europe and Asia. He has received commissions from the Ensemble
Intercontemporain (Paris), from the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Montreal), Zeitgeist (Minneapolis), the California Ear
Unit (Los Angeles), the Quasar Ensemble and Chants Libres (Montreal). Zack Settel has composed three operas for
Chants Libres, the road-opera Alexandra (2012), Pacamambo (2002) and the electr’opera L’Enfant des glaces (2000)
Pauline Vaillancourt | Original concept and Stage Director
For more than 45 years, Pauline Vaillancourt has led a busy international career as a performer of lyrical and
contemporary opera, while at the same time pursuing a career as a creator of original work and as a stage director.
She has premiered the works of many European and Canadian composers - Aperghis, Vivier, Tremblay, Nigg,
Garant, Prévost, Finnissy, Piché, Bussoti, Evangelista, Provost, Settel, Thibault, Mather, Squillante – to name only a
few. She has performed in numerous festivals in Montpellier, Caracas, Avignon, Angers, Aix-en-Provence,
Strasbourg, London, Valencia, Buffalo, Warsaw, Lyon, Vienna and Rome, singing traditional and contemporary pieces
under the direction of great maestros such as Boulez, Gelmetti, Pfaff, Tamayo, Stejkal and Constant. Over the course
of her career, she has worked with prestigious directors such as Audi, Vitez, Ronfart, Pintal, Maheu, Rostain and has
sung in iconic settings like Carnegie Hall in New York and Le Chatelet in Paris. Her recordings can be found on
Amberola, Sonart, SNE, Salabert/Actuels, Umus, Port-Royal, Ariane, empreintes DIGITALes, Doberman-Yppan,
Mode, Atma, Chants Libres and Schott Wergo.
Audiences have applauded her in many Chants Libres productions, a company she founded in 1990, with the director
Joseph Saint-Gelais and the dramaturg Renald Tremblay. She has also developed and directed many new works for
the company: Les Chants du Capricorne (1995), Yo soy la desintegración (1997), L’Enfant des glaces (2000),
L’Archange (2005) and Alexandra (2012). She has been an artist in residence at the Musée d’Art contemporain de
Montréal, and at the Studio du Québec in Paris and New York. She has received the Victor-Martyn-Lynch-Staunton
Award from the Canada Council and the Prix d’interprète de musique contemporaine Québec-Flandre.
CHANTS LIBRES – L’Enfant des glaces (2000) | February 28, March 1 and 2, 2013, at the Gesù Media: Marie Marais |514‐845‐2821 | [email protected] Ghislaine Deschambault | Mezzo-soprano
Ghislaine Deschambault has a Master Degree in Classical and Baroque singing from the University of Montreal,
where she studied with Catherine Sévigny and Suzie LeBlanc, and she also has a BA in harpsichord from McGill
University. She has performed on many Montreal stages performing as a soloist in Alternate Visions (John Oliver),
l’Incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi), Requiem by Mozart, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and Gloria by Vivaldi.
Recently, Ghislaine Deschambault performed in Holland in Drei Dorfszenen by Bela Bartók with the Janacek
Ensemble, and in Paris in the contemporary oratorio The Armed Man, by Karl Jenkins. A recipient of a grant from the
Canada Council, she trained in Europe with the soprano Barbara Hannigan and the harpsichordist and pianist Jory
Vinikour. In the fall of 2011, she presented a series of recitals in France of melodies from the 20th and 21st centuries.
Jean Maheux | Actor, baritone
Jean Maheux is a multi-faceted artist who has developed a strong reputation as a dancer, singer and actor. He made
a name for himself with his remarkable performance of Don Quixote in L’Homme de la Mancha (nominated for best
actor by the Académie québécoise du theatre). He has performed in many other musicals including Gala by JeanPierre Ferland, Napoléon by Serge Lama and Antoine et Cléopâtre by the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde.
In the dance world, he has worked principally with Dulicnée Langfelder in La voisine, hockey, ok! and Portrait d’une
femme avec valise. His theatre performances include Le portier de la gare Windsor by Julie Vincent, Les exilés de la
lumière by Lise Vaillancourt, Toute femme by Peter Karpati, L’Iliade by Homer, Du vent entre les dents by
Emmanuelle Jimenez, and Billy l’éclopé by Martin McDonagh. In 2011, he performed the lead role in Les menteries
d’un conteux de basse-cour by Victor-Lévy Beaulieu. He has also been a regular cast member for a number of years
in the series L’Auberge du chien noir broadcast by Radio-Canada.
With Chants Libres, he has worked on four original operas: Le vampire et la nymphomane (1996) by Serge Provost
and Claude Gauvreau, L’Enfant des Glaces (2000) by Zack Settel and Pauline Vaillancourt, L’Archange (2005) by
Louis Dufort and Alexis Nouss and the Enchanted Opera L’eau qui danse, la pomme qui chante et l’oiseau qui dit la
vérité (2009) by Gilles Tremblay and Pierre Morency. More recently he performed in ARIAS, a celebration of Chants
Libres’ twentieth anniversary.
Yves Labelle | Videography
With degrees in sociology, visual arts and communication from the University of Montreal, Yves Labelle has been
creating experimental and fictional videos since 1988. His work, and most notably OPÉRA / Le Cartographe animé,
Mauvaise conscience, Liquid Transe and Dreammachine, have been screened in Europe, Latin America, Africa and
Canada.
Having been associated with PRIM Centre d’arts médiatiques since 1989, Yves Labelle has worked there as a
technical coordinator and workshop leader on editing and video creation. In 1993, he founded the multimedia
collective called SYNERGIE, with Jimmy Lakatos and Louis Veillette. As a visual designer, he has collaborated on a
number of important Montreal events, such as ISEA 95 and the Neksus Project.
While pursuing a teaching career in various educational institutions, like L’École supérieure de théâtre (invited
professor – UQAM) and the National Theatre School, his work has stood out in many productions including Victoria,
Les pieds des anges, Lortie, Bob, Les Aveugles, Charbonneau et le Chef, Rhinocéros, Equus, Grid, and L’Imposture
(…). On the musical theatre scene, he has worked on Shilvi à Sherazade and the musical theatre of Louis Mailloux.
CHANTS LIBRES – L’Enfant des glaces (2000) | February 28, March 1 and 2, 2013, at the Gesù Media: Marie Marais |514‐845‐2821 | [email protected] François Roupinian | Lighting
François Roupinian has pursued a career in the scenic arts and in architecture. Over the years, his passion and many
innovations have allowed him to work with several well know artists and companies such as Michel Lemieux, Victor
Pilon, Chants Libres, Isabelle Choinière and PPS Danse. In the architectural field, he designed the lighting for the
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, the Asian Civilisations Museum of Singapore; the City Museum of
Washington, D.C, as well as the musical-theatrical exhibition of The Mysterious Bog People, a collaboration between
4 museums, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Landesmuseaum in Hanover, Germany. His next
projects include the lighting designs for two theatrical exhibitions in Los Angeles and the Robe de mariée by Julie
Vincent.
Johanne Madore | Choreographer
An artist of many talents, Johanne Madore has been working for over 25 years, as much on Canadian stages as
internationally. She studied classical and contemporary dance, as well as theatre at the Université du Québec à
Montréal. She has also studied yoga and integrated corporal psychology. At the age of fifteen, she became a
member of Tournifolie, a dance-theatre company for children (1976-1983). She then worked as a dancer and creative
artist with avant-garde quebecois companies such as Léveillé danse, Twist Art and O Vertigo.
From 1984 to 1997, she was a member of Carbone 14, directed by Gilles Maheu, and directed, for the first time, the
musical drama Krieg (1993). Afterwards she founded the experimental inter-disciplinary theatre company, Les
intercesseurs with plastician Pierre Przysiezniak. They created Antennaë, a visual fable that brought together the
worlds of lighting, painting, the body and electroacoustic music.
From 1998 to 2006, Johanne Madore was a dancer and a choreographer for the opera La Damnation de Faust,
directed by Robert Lepage in Japan; since the original production, the opera has been in repertoire at the Opera
National in Paris. In 2000, she choreographed the Cirque Orchestra by the Cirque Eloize. That same year, she took
on the choreography of the electr’opera L’Enfant des glaces by Pauline Vaillancourt. She directed and
choreographed Vacuum (Danse-Cité), a humoristic trash cabaret for actors-dancers-clowns, played by Carole
Courtois, Peter James and Lucas Joly. In 2002, she was invited by Victor Pilon and Michel Lemieux to work for the
mixed media company 4D Art, to create Anima. She also performed with Michel Lemieux on stage in an international
tour. She also cast and directed actors in their film, Les Planètes.
Caroline Mercier | Costumes
For more than 20 years, Caroline Mercier has designed costumes and works of art based on the concept of the body,
its envelope, its gesture and expression from the worlds of Fine Arts, Fashion, theatre design and makeup design.
After making her start in fashion design with the opening of her own boutique and introduction of her own line of
clothing, she moved on to performance art. She has a Doctorate in Fine Arts (Costume and Textile Design), was
awarded the prestigious academic Excellence Grant from FCAR among many other awards; she has been the artist in
residence in many art centres in England, Ireland, France and Thailand, and participated in a master class on
renaissance drawing and painting in Florence.
She has worked with the Cirque du Soleil, Robert Lepage, Douglas Campbell and the McGill Opera, on film sets in
Hollywood and Las Vegas, and has dressed many famous people including Carol Channing, Roseanne Barr, Dennis
Leary and Drew Carey.
She is an active member of USITT, APASQ, The Fashion Network, and the board of directors of KC ACTF, an
organization supported by the Kennedy Center, as well as sitting on many consultation committees at Delta College,
Woodbury University and Cal Arts in Los Angeles.
Since 2007, she has been teaching full time, and thanks to substantial grants, has created a digital archive of
costumes. Caroline Mercier is currently the Director of the NEA’s Our Town project with a budget of 300 000$.
CHANTS LIBRES – L’Enfant des glaces (2000) | February 28, March 1 and 2, 2013, at the Gesù Media: Marie Marais |514‐845‐2821 | [email protected]