Analysis / Thoughts

Cahier du soir – Diary of the Evening  (October 6, 1994)

Spoken opera (1991 – 1994)

 

For 14 musicians, an actress and slides

Music and texts of Luc Ferrari

14 musicians, an actress, slides, a leader, each one on separately or all together?

It is an enigma perhaps. The musicians play, the actress speaks, the conductor directs; is there a relationship between them? First, the musicians do not play all, is that quite normal? And then they play a strange music. Then the conductor, from time to other does not conduct, is that quite normal? And us too!

Or he agitates a lot, but in one and the other case that seems to work, is this quite natural? As for the actress, she speaks, she listens, she looks, she speaks to the slides, she speaks to us, and she questions herself.

Then what is it? A succession of texts and musics that say the same thing in a splendid irreproachable redundancy, but that touches the sensuality differently. Then that goes in the direction music and text, but not theatre; word and music, but not oratorio; employing electricity but not technological; using the image but not multi-media… perhaps still an unclassifiable and yet completely normal thing.

Narration.

That tells the story of the feelings which pass by there.