COMBATTIMENTO: THE BLACK SWAN THEORY
A new production of the FESTIVAL D’AIX-EN-PROVENCE in co-production with THÉÂTRE DE CAEN with Lamentations, Madrigaux, Airs & Instrumental pieces by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), Tiburtio Massaino (1550-1609), Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676), Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674), Tarquino Merula (1595-1665), Luigi Rossi (1597-1653)
Let us not weep for those who weep; it is pointless for everyone. Rather, let us explore the realm of possibilities— i.e., the chances for transformation or emancipation bound to all these figures in tears.
Georges Didi-Huberman, Peuples en larmes, peuples en armes (2016)
What tides of fate have led Tancredi to a battlefield where he unknowingly affronts Clorinda, his true love, and eventually kills her? This improbable event that nonetheless occurs is known as a “black swan”: an inconceivable catastrophe to which a community must give meaning in order to surpass their tears and construct a brighter future on the ruins. With Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (“The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda”), an incredible masterpiece of the baroque period, Monteverdi also seemed like an unexpected and highly prolific musical event. In Combattimento: The Black Swan Theory, conductor Sébastien Daucé and stage director Silvia Costa have imagined a symbolic journey through some of the most powerful emotions in Italian baroque music, including laments, madrigals, arias and instrumental pieces composed by Monteverdi, Rossi, Cavalli and their contemporaries during one of the heights of the era. For the audience, the emotional force provides an occasion for powerful catharsis.
LIBRETTO of Combattimento: The black swan theory
Conductor: Sébastien Daucé
Stage Director & Set Designer: Silvia Costa
Costume Designer: Laura Dondoli
Lighting Designer: Bernd Purkrabek
Dramaturgy: Antonio Cuenca Ruiz
Staging Collaborator: Rosabel Huguet Dueñas
Set Collaborator: Maroussia Vaes
CAST: Valerio Contaldo, Lucile Richardot, Julie Roset, Etienne Bazola, Nicolas Brooymans, Caroline Weynants, Antonin Rondepierre, Blandine de Sansal & Justine Assaf-Hausfater with the Orchestra Ensemble Correspondances
PREMIERE on the 3rd of July and following shows on the 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 14th, 16th & 18 July at Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, Aix-en-Provence
© Monika Rittershaus
Vocal introduction about the piece (in French)
