The Great Performers launch their season on Monday, October 17, with a concert by the Pygmalion ensemble, conducted by Raphaël Pichon. On the program, works by Schubert, Schumann…
After having triumphed in Paris with a “Lakmé” by Delibes directed by Laurent Pelly, the Ensemble Pygmalion is going on tour with its new program, entitled “Mein traum” (“My dream”). The choir and orchestra conductor Raphaël Pichon has imagined a concert around works by Schubert, Schumann and Weber, the quintessence of German romanticism. He speaks to us about it with the flame and the fervor that we know for him.
What is this “dream” nurtured by Schubert?
It is a text that he wrote and that his brother found several years after his death. It’s a kind of dream that makes us penetrate into the psychology of Schubert, to be deeply pessimistic and at the same time insatiably in search of light. “Main trauma” reflects this.
How did you build your program around this text?
We imagined and assembled this work from scratch. My idea was to introduce people to lesser-known works by Schubert, in particular his operas, which were mostly unfinished. This program recounts the great shift of romanticism, this moment when, for the first time, the inner world of composers, their spirituality, their inner conflicts influence their works.
In “Main traum”, the choir sings “The lord is my shepherd / Nothing can miss me”. Is your approach only religious?
Not really. This sacred culture, this quest for spiritual answer is mixed with a strong paganism. We go through all the states, from the blackest darkness to the grazing lights.
After “Lakmé”, you find your accomplice, the baritone Stéphane Degout. What binds you so strongly?
Stéphane is a wonderful mix of honesty, humility and generosity… with the voice of God in the pipes! He has reached an incredible vocal maturity. We have lived a very beautiful friendship for ten years. We grow together seeing music and our lives as musicians in the same way.
Do you have the same attachment for Laurent Pelly, the former co-director of TNT, in Toulouse, who recently staged “Lakmé”, at the Opéra-comique, in Paris?
This opera was a magnificent adventure, a real leap into the void with an incursion into a completely new repertoire for us, dating from the end of the 19th century. As usual, we have chosen period instruments. “Lakmé” was also an opportunity to finally work with Laurent Pelly. The meeting was beautiful; it was obvious that we worked together alongside my great friend Sabine Devieilhe. Laurent’s staging was very simple, very poetic. Thanks to him, we were able to move away from folklore to reach the essence and the honey of this magnificent work.