Proposed from January 28 to February 4 at the Opéra de Rennes, Red Waters immerses us in history ofa young man who rhappens in his native village. In this place cut off from the world named Red Waters, the wine which the inhabitants drink has replaced the water of the rivers. A love story goes be born between the young man and a resident. Both are unaware that they are in fact twins separated at birth. Their forbidden passion will shake up the unsaid that weighs on this strange community.
A few days before the premiere, the public was able to attend the final rehearsals.
This opera has already been created and staged in 2011 in Rouen by director Arthur Nauzyciel. In 2009, he proposed to the French singer and songwriter (of Israeli and Dutch origin) Keren Ann Zeidel anda Icelandic musician Barði Johannsson who together form the duo Lady & Bird, to write the synopsis of an opera. They are working on the project with another Icelander, the poet Sjon (who is also a lyricist of Bjork and Radiohead) and imagine an opera in six scenes around the history of this reclusive village where strange rituals are perpetuated.
Ten years later, the show is recreated to better match the spirit of today, with a new vocal, musical and choreographic cast which brings together the Opéra de Rennes, the Théâtre National de Bretagne (of which Arthur Nauzyciel is the director) and the Orchester National de Bretagne conducted by Nicolas Agullo. The show has evolved: the orchestra being larger, there are more musicians on stage, which has made it possible to enlarge the score. But neither the composition nor the writing has changed.
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Singing dance, theatre… lhe show is total, with great work on the sets (from Riccardo Hernández), lights (Scott Zielinski) and costumes (Gaspard Yurkievich). “We had to invent a world, explains Arthur Nauzyciel, and seize the codes of the opera while making them move. Keren Ann and Barði Jóhannsson succeeded in freeing themselves from the rigidity of the opera by keeping its structure but not necessarily the form. They also asked the lyrical singers to use simpler and more restrained voices, with a real place left to the Chamber choir Melism(s)”.
Another important role is that left to the choreographies by Damien Jalet: the three dancers embody three nymph characters, very active and present in the story.
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For the director Arthur Nauzyciel, all this gives “a depth that is expressed with something very light, very soft and delicate. This melancholy is supported by a story that talks about how one generation can free itself from another, how we suffer from things that are reproduced without knowing why and what we can do to free ourselves.
“Red Waters” at the Rennes Opera. Duration: 1h20. Opera sung in English and surtitled. From 12 years old. From 4 to 40 €. The dates : Friday January 28, Saturday January 29 and Monday January 31, 2022 at 8 p.m., Tuesday February 1, Thursday February 3 and Friday February 4, 2022 at 8 p.m.