Un samedi aprèsm

Poems for Piano and Voice by Hugo Wolf, Théâtre Athénée - Paris, October 23 2010

Shigeko Hata and Edwin Crossley-Mercer

Philip Glass and Franz Kafka In der Strafkolonie

Théâtre Athénée Paris, April 7, 2010:  Dans la colonie pénitentiaire (In the penal colony)

Philippe Forget    Conductor
Richard Brunel    Stage Director

Stephen Owen  The Officer (singer)
Michael Smallwood The Traveler (singer)

Nicholas Henault The Soldier (actor)
Mathieu Morin-Lebot The Condamned (actor)
Gérald Robert-Tissot Soldier (actor)

Adams and Glass in Paris

In the country of Boulez you don't expect to hear too much music by the American minimalists, such as John Adams or Philip Glass.

Yet in March there was a whole lot of events honoring John Adams, including the French premiere of his opera "A Flowering Tree" at the Cité de la Musique [Cité was co founded by Pierre Boulez!].
The press apparently liked the idea and appreciated the music by Adams. Moreover, the world's coolest television [Arte, of course] --via ARTE Live Web--  offered a free video of the entire concert with John Adams conducting the Asko-Schönberg Ensemble. The concert took place 10 days ago in Paris; the video is free and can be found here.

As for Philip Glass, his chamber operas have been relatively often performed but in smaller parisian theaters. To wit, "In the Penal Colony", that he composed in 2000, will be premiered tonight at the Théâtre Athénée with Yours Truly in the front row  :)

"Julie" parigina al teatro Athénée

So I was at the prima of "Julie" last Friday, January 8. I am still going soft about the beauty and charm of the tiny cutie Athénée theater. If you're in Paris for more than a weekend, that's definitely one of those improbable addresses where you can taste some of the genuine French, Parisian charm.

The show -as expected- suffered from comparison with the knockout production I posted about  the other day [also available on DVD]. It isn't as good because the cast is not up to par and because not enough financial resources have not been put in to set the stage up. It was nevertheless a good show.

Was a pleasure to see Philippe Boesmans (composer) to show up at the curtain call. As for the singers, Agnieszka Slawinska, a young Polish soprano, stands out. Her two costars were OK too.