Le Balcon
Peter Eötvös
Le Balcon, opera in fourteen tableaux (2002)
based on Le Balcon by Jean Genet
Libretto by Françoise Morvan in collaboration with Peter Eötvös and André Marcowicz
Opera first performed at the 2002 Aix-en-Provence Festival
"I've described the situation.
The people, in their fury and in their joy,
are on the verge of ecstasy: it's up to us to hurl them over the edge."
Jean Genet, Le Balcon (The Envoy)
In Madame Irma's brothel, a temple of eroticism and the imaginary, the numerous salons, costumes, accessories and devoted boarders allow amateurs to indulge their fantasies by becoming a general, bishop or judge at will, while outside, in the city, revolution rages. The chief of police, on the orders of the Queen and the Palace, has to cope. Hence the Court Envoy's suggestion: if Irma herself, beautiful and imposing, were to appear to harangue the crowd, would the Revolution fizzle out?
Founded in 2008, Le Balcon takes its name from Jean Genet's play.
Premiere of this production on May 20, 2014, Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
Revival at Opéra de Lille in April 2015
Musical directionMaxime Pascal
Sound projection Florent Derex
Stage direction Damien Bigourdan
Assistant director Agathe Cemin
Set design Mathieu Crescence
Lighting Jérémie Gaston-Raoul
Costumes Pascale Lavandier
Musical IT production Augustin Muller
Vocal conductor Alphonse Cemin
Mme Irma la Reine Rodrigo Ferreira
Carmen Shigeko Hata
la Femme, la Voleuse, la Fille Élise Chauvin
Chantal Laura Holm
Chief of Police Jean-Claude Sarragosse
Roger Guillaume Andrieux (Athénée) | Damien Bigourdan (Opéra de Lille)
l'Êvèquen Florent Baffi
le Juge Patrick Kabongo (Athénée) | Manuel Nuñez-Camelino (Opéra de Lille)
le Général Vincent Vantyghem
l'Envoyé de la Cour Benjamin Locher
Arthur, the Executioner Virgile Ancely (Athénée) | Pierre Bessière (Opéra de Lille)
the Slave, dancer Emmanuelle Grach
Christophe de Coster, Camille Della Torre, Émilie Haus, David Kahn, Charlotte Lupinski, Guillaume Pevée, Clémence Pointelin, Charles Ségard-Noircière, Samuel Yagoubi, Inès Huchet, Charlotte Deniel, Christophe de Coster
Musical director Maxime Pascal
Flutes Claire Luquiens
Oboe, English horn Guillaume Herbaud (Athénée) / Louis Seguin (Opéra de Lille)
Clarinets Iris Zerdoud
Bass clarinet and contrabass Ghislain Roffat
Bassoon Julien Abbes
Saxophones Juliette Herbet
Horn Joël Lasry
Trumpets Henri Deléger, Matthias Champon (Athénée), André Feydy (Opéra de Lille)
Trombone Mathieu Adam
Tuba Maxime Morel
Percussion François-Xavier Plancqueel, Benoit Maurin, Pierre Michel
Harp Clara Izambert
Clavier Alphonse Cemin
Hammond organ Sarah Kim
Violin Strohviol You-Jung Han
Viola Aurélie Deschamps (Athénée) | Andrei Malakhov (Opéra de Lille)
Cello Askar Ishangaliyev
Double bass Simon Guidicelli
Production created at Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet on May 20, 2014
Production Le Balcon
Coproduction Opéra de Lille, Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
With support from Fondation Orange, Fonds de Création Lyrique / SACD, Areitec.