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A WALK THROUGH THE END OF TIME
Commissioned by Philippe Graffin
Jessica's one-act A WALK THROUGH THE END OF TIME
(UNE PROMENADE A TRAVERS LE FIN DU TEMPS)
This one-act play about Messiaen's 'Quartet for the End of Time' was specially commissioned by the French violinist Philippe Graffin, artistic director of the Consonances Festival, St Nazaire, to open the 2007 festival. The play explores the issues surrounding the Quartet and the aesthetic atmosphere of the 1940s, in the context of a contemporary story. A man and a woman, formerly married but long divorced, meet for the first time in many years to hear the Messiaen Quartet and, through exploring its extraordinary history and the emotional world within the music, seek to resolve their differences.
The premiere opened the 2007 festival in St Nazaire's significant new venue Alveole 14: a creative space for exploratory performing arts carved into the shell of the German submarine base that has dominated the town's coastline since the Second World War. The stars were the great French actress Marie-Christine Barrault and the magnetic actor Charles Gonzales, and the evening concluded with a performance of the Quartet by violinist Philippe Graffin, clarinettist Charles Neidich, cellist Raphael Wallfisch and pianist Claire Desert.
‘La musique, langage universel qui rapproche les hommes au-delà des croyances et des idéologies; la liberté comme lumière de l’existence, irradient cette fiction vibrante, décalquée sur la réalité historique…’ - /Ouest-France/
('Music, a universal language which brings people together beyond their faiths and ideologies, and liberty as the light of existence, irradiates this vibrant story, drawn from historical reality' - /Ouest-France)/ |
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THE SONG OF TRIUMPHANT LOVE
Commissioned by Philippe Graffin
Premiered at the Consonances Festival, St Nazaire, France, 21 September 2006 as Le chant de l’amour triumphant, with actress Marie-Christine Barrault and numerous festival artists including Philippe Graffin (violin), Francois Le Roux (baritone) and Ruth Peel (mezzo-soprano)
The ‘story behind the story behind the Chausson Poème’ explores the life and loves of the great mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot, especially her relationship with the Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, on whose story ‘The Song of Triumphant Love’ Ernest Chausson later based his Poème. Pauline’s history draws in a wide range of music by those who knew her, including Chopin, Brahms, Saint-Saëns and Fauré, as well as her own beautiful songs; building up a picture of the autobiographical elements that influenced Turgenev’s writing, the evening culminates with the Poème itself in its rarely heard chamber version.
Link to photos of last year's performance at the Consonances Festival, St Nazaire, France. |
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BELOVED CLARA
Commissioned by Lucy Parham
Premiered at Wigmore Hall, London, 27 October 2002 by pianist Lucy Parham (piano) and actors Eleanor Bron and Malcolm Sinclair
The story of the intense three-way relationships between the composer Robert Schumann, his wife the great pianist Clara Schumann, and the much younger musical genius Johannes Brahms has always fascinated music lovers. This programme of music and readings brings their enigmatic and moving history to life.
Further performances have included the Chelsea Festival, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Thames Concert Society, Salisbury Playhouse, Pollok Hall, Glasgow, Cadogan Hall, Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival, Music at Woodhouse, and the Union Chapel, Islington, among others. Actors have included Joanna David, Timothy West, Edward Fox, Martin Jarvis, Charles Dance, Jane Purcell and Christopher Bramwell.
A recording by Lucy Parham, Joanna David and Martin Jarvis, with the script adapted by Lucy Parham from the original, is now available on Sanctuary Classics.
Read review: here |
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