In The Heart Of The Ocean
Frédéric Blondy, Arthur Lavandier
Au cœur de l'océan
Libretto – Halory Goerger
An oligarch finances the first deep-sea underwater colony. He descends with a team to validate the installation. They assess our relationship, as a species, with the aquatic environment. A force from the abyss opposes their presence. A dialogue ensues.
The opera is built around the relationship between extended vocal techniques and compositional strategies that leave plenty of room for improvisation. It blends abstraction and melodic ideas. It aims to allow the audience to appreciate the very high levels of intensity offered by these rare vocalists on the opera stage.
Premiere on 3 February 2021 at the Lille Opera House
Revival at the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet on 15, 16 and 17 October 2021
Structure
Prologue
Han Buhrs, an oceanographer, mourns the death of his wife, Susan, an astronaut lost in space. Determined to descend to the deepest depths of an underwater trench, he maps its terrain with his voice.
Act I – The Surface
Axel Zowitni, an oligarch with a passion for money and the ocean, presents his project for a deep-sea underwater colony. Each member of the team is introduced. A storm breaks out and forces the station to dive, while everyone sings to ward off seasickness.
Act II – The Descent
The station descends calmly. Chen, the biologist, discovers that her admiration for underwater species is at odds with the plans of Zowitni, her employer, who is more interested in profit than scientific progress. As the descent continues, the ‘watches’ are taken in teams of two. Zowitni, deep in conversation with a shareholder, is surprised by Wassermann.
Act III – The Bottom
The underwater station reaches its destination, a trench whose relief the crew explores in search of a suitable site for the colony. Wassermann, focused on her research, falls in love with a hydrothermal vent. While exploring the crevices, the team awakens a force that splits the group in two. Wassermann, hypnotised, disappears into the fault, pushed by Zowitni. The others set off in search of her.
Act IV – The light
Left alone, Bergerault deliberately decides to follow the same path, without Chen being able to stop her. The biologist overwhelms Zowitni, who, frightened, returns to the surface. Ute, Bergerault and Chen reappear, transfigured, and call to Duthoit, who, thinking he is about to die, joins them.
Epilogue
Buhrs, left alone on board, resists the call of the ocean. Nevertheless, he finds peace in this forced hermitage aboard the station. The relief takes the form of his wife and converses with him.
champ légende
Directed by Halory Goerger
Sound projection by Florent Derex
Set design by Myrtille Debièvre
Lighting by Annie Leuridan
Costumes by Pascale Lavandier
Video creation by Jacques Hoepffner
Captain Claire Bergerault
Claire is a kind of Pia Klemp who has eaten Carola Rackete. She has mild psychological issues. Trained as a mechanic, she was briefly the lieutenant on a luxury cruise ship, which we can guess she deliberately sank out of environmental conviction. She wants to see the Old World burn.
Biologist Audrey Chen
Chen is a marine biologist who earned her doctorate at the University of Miami. She is both brilliant and ambitious, but not a practical person. Her pragmatism towards living beings can easily be mistaken for a complete lack of empathy, which makes her extremely valuable to Nowitz.
Diver Isabelle Duthoit
Isabelle comes from a family of Walloon farmers. She used to have a skilled job. She lost her husband and children in a fire, and on that day she left and never returned. She obtained her diving certifications one after the other and has since worked on oil rigs. She seeks comfort in silence.
Oceanographer Han Buhrs
He read Stevenson and Rachel Carson when he was a young teenager in the 1950s and thought he would become an adventurer. He studied oceanography in Southampton, interned with Cousteau in the early 1960s, had his left hand bitten by a giant squid that tried to steal his doughnut, recovered the doughnut, but never recovered his hand. He is a widower and heartbroken. A bit of a wimp.
The Entrepreneur Alex Nowitz
Nowitz is a Russian entrepreneur. Like all the big shots who love money immoderately, he has a score to settle. He is a powerful but weak-willed mind, driven by transhumanist values. But he also loves poetry and enjoys reciting Esenin. He has an incurable neurological disease that he hopes to cure with a hyper-rare underwater species.
The Geologist Ute Wassermann
Ute Wassermann studied geology at the University of Göttingen and simultaneously pursued a career as a sound engineer in the German experimental music scene. More bird than person, he barely speaks but listens attentively. He heard something downstairs and wants to know what it was. He has a death wish that has not yet been fulfilled.
The Ocean Phil Minton
Le Balcon Orchestra
Musical direction Maxime Pascal
Flute Claire Luquiens
Clarinet Iris Zerdoud, Joris Rühl
Horn Armand Dubois-Gourut
Trumpet Florent Cardon
Tuba Maxime Morel
Harp Clara Izambert
Electric guitar Giani Caserotto
Percussion Stanislas Delannoy, Michele Rabbia
Violin Valentin Broucke
Viola Elsa Seger
Cello Clotilde Lacroix
Double bass Simon Guidicelli
Production
Commissioned by Le Balcon, Opéra de Lille, Fondation Singer-Polignac
Support for the composition of an original musical work from the Ministry of Culture
with the support of SACEM | Executive production CNCM La Muse en Circuit
Executive production: Le Balcon
Co-production: Lille Opera House
Co-directed by Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
Partnership
With support from the Singer-Polignac Foundation, the SACD Lyric Creation Fund, Copie Privée and Areitec