The First Murder
Arthur Lavandier
Le Premier meurtre
Libretto Federico Flamminio
In a cold, violent country, a writer - Gabriel - receives a call. He must leave, leave everything, and create his latest play on a journey north, far from the cities of the plains. Gabriel is surrounded by three distinct worlds. That of his wife and his actor, so handsome and so young; that of his work, an ancient tragedy whose story comes ever closer to his own life; and that of the Invisible, populated by musicians and the two narrators who seem to organize Gabriel's life as one organizes a show. But little by little, the worlds blend and reality becomes blurred. Who's telling the story? Who is controlling whom? Who are Misery and the Other, who seem to be able to navigate between these worlds? Gabriel seems to be sinking into madness, yet we can't help wondering:
what if it's all true?
World premiere November 6, 2016 at Opéra de Lille
Opéra de Lille – 2016
Artistic and Musical Direction Maxime Pascal
Stage Direction, Set Design Ted Huffman
Artistic Collaborator Adam H. Weinert
Assistant Director Agathe Cemin
Assistant Designer Myrtille Debièvre
Sound Projection Florent Derex
Computer Control Baptiste Chouquet
Lighting Malcolm Rippeth
Costumes Pascale Lavandier, Clémence Pernoud
Video Pierre Martin
Vocal Director Alphonse Cemin
Gabriel Vincent Le Texier
Emma Léa Trommenschlager
Misère Élise Chauvin
Herman Manuel Nuñez-Camelino
Aleksandr Damien Bigourdan
Hyppolite Taeill Kim
L'Autre Vincent Vantyghem
Claire Luquiens flute
Iris Zerdoud clarinets
Joël Lasry horn
Manon Souchard horn
Matthias Champon trumpet
Henri Deléger trumpet
Mathieu Adam trombone
Maxime Morel tuba
Akino Kamiya percussion
Othman Louati percussion
You-Jung Han violin
Aurélie Deschamps viola
Created by Le Balcon - Opéra de Lille
Commissioned by Opéra de Lille - Le Balcon - Fondation Singer-Polignac
Coproduced by Opéra de Lille - Le Balcon
With support from Fonds de Création Lyrique-SACD, Copie privée, Fondation Orange and Areitec.
With support from the CERNI program of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.
