The Hall of Song is relocating with two exciting tributes to Anne Sylvestre and Georges Brassens

For the second year in a row, the Parisian institution dedicated to French song is presenting two of its productions in Avignon. “Les Eaux sauvages” and “Le Prof de Brassens” are on the bill for the “Off” alternately at the Théâtre de l’Arrache-Cœur. Olivier Hussenet, deputy director of the Hall and actor-singer, introduces them to us.

Two genius authors, composers and performers are in the spotlight in the two relocated productions this summer, and played alternately between July 3 and 12, 2024, by the Hall de la chanson at the Festival Off d’Avignon: Anne Sylvestre and Georges Brassens. The first is celebrated through her repertoire “hydrophilic” in production Wild Waters (from July 3 to 11, odd days). The second is evoked through his meeting with the French teacher who turned his life upside down, in Brassens’ Professor (from July 4 to 12, on even days). The performances take place at the Théâtre de l’Arrache-Cœur.

Deputy director of the Hall de la chanson, Olivier Hussenet is both on the bill (with a guitarist) and in the design of these shows. Director, singer and flautist for Wild Waters (created in 2017) with Vladimir Médail on guitar and arrangements. Author, co-designer and co-director (with Serge Hureau) for Brassens’ Professor (created in 2021) this time with Alban Losseroy on guitars and arrangements. Two musical theater shows as delicate as they are rich in lessons, and which allow us to rediscover two cult artists from a different angle. Olivier Hussenet answers questions from Franceinfo Culture.

Franceinfo Culture: For the second year, you are relocating to Avignon with two shows. Why two, and why these creations dedicated to Anne Sylvestre and Georges Brassens?
Olivier Hussenet : Given that we have a large catalog of creations that grows every year, it is difficult for us to travel with only one proposal, it would betray the abundance of our activity. As for the choice to present Wild Waters And Brassens’ Professor, it is dictated, on the one hand, by a logistical, almost economic parameter. Within the current tight budgetary framework, we looked for two proposals that wouldn’t cost us too much, two light shows. In Avignon, we want to reach the public of course, but also the programmers, the professionals who will perhaps give a future to these shows. It’s also good to come up with proposals with two artists per stage and a single technician for the lighting control – since there is no sound system for these two shows. And having the singer in common made things even simpler.

Did you have other criteria in mind when you brought together Georges Brassens and Anne Sylvestre? Indeed. These are two shows that represent our approach well. And they are congruent with each other, since they evoke two personalities who emerged at roughly the same time, a few years apart. Moreover, these artists have often been compared, which made Anne Sylvestre a little furious, and she was right. An unscrupulous journalist had called her “Brassens in a petticoat”, which is never very pleasant… However, they have things in common, such as using very fine writing. They are people who worked a lot on their works. Brassens, in a slightly archaic style from the beginning – he wrote classical songs in the 1950s and 1960s –, Anne Sylvestre in a more modern style. But both had a very literary style and a very unique sense of melody, which was truly unique to each of them. Their melodies were not simple, which is also why we can compare them. Finally, these are two shows with guitar, in two aspects, each of the instrumentalists bringing their own universe: one more rock in Brassens’ Professor, the other more jazz with Wild Waters.

For ““Wild Waters”, you have drawn from Anne Sylvestre’s repertoire songs around the theme of water…
Yes. It’s not an unusual angle insofar as it’s not necessarily what we think of today when we talk about Anne Sylvestre’s work. Her current destiny is to be enlightened by the feminist side: women’s point of view, women’s words… Moreover, the theme of water intersects a lot with that of women. It’s a kind of obsession, but she’s not the only one. Many themes run through her work, and even elements: Anne Sylvestre is very in touch with nature, apparently since always. When she talks about water, she also talks about her childhood, or childhood in general. Wading in rivers, throwing stones, these are really childlike gestures. But Anne Sylvestre also has a love affair with the wind, in the literal sense of the term. She talks about the wind as if it were a childhood sweetheart… She also has a very strong relationship with the earth. All of this is a bit mixed up in his songs. The theme of water is so recurrent, it takes such different forms, that it imposed itself on me without me thinking, in an underground way. From that moment on, I managed to trace a link between several very different songs, which weaves – I hope – a fairly coherent journey, and which allows to illuminate many aspects of his work. It is a somewhat transversal entry into his work.

Have you been tempted to slip in some Fabulettes, the songs that Anne Sylvestre wrote for children, in this show?
No, we didn’t go that way. We respected the prohibition she had stated, because she didn’t want the Fabulettes are represented on stage. For her, it was a discographic adventure, not at all a stage one. I strictly respect that. The only thing is that we are talking about a Fabulous which speaks of water, like a kind of musical opening in a few seconds. This theme runs through his work, from childhood to adulthood. In Anne Sylvestre, water even embodies a metaphor for human life, notably in the song called To go find my source. For her, the journey of life starts from the source towards the estuary. But for me, this story of water also has a relationship with the unconscious and poetic inspiration.

I believe I remember that Anne Sylvestre, whom you knew well and with whom you had the opportunity to work, had the time to see Wild Waters…
Yes, she saw the show twice, a year apart. She liked it very much, she was very touched. I remember one of her first thoughts: “It’s crazy. It works with men too!” She was surprised, delighted, since her songs have mostly been covered by female artists, and very rarely by men.

Alternately, you also take over Brassens’ Professor, created in 2021 for the centenary of the birth of the poet from Sète, and which we really liked. Has this show, which tells the story of the relationship between the young Brassens and his French teacher, evolved since its creation? ?
The repertoire of songs has not changed, but I rewrite the text over the course of the performances, so I think that the text part has tightened up a bit, especially at the beginning, and the first song comes more quickly than before. Let us recall that this is a reconstruction of the French lessons that Georges Brassens took in 3rd grade with his teacher Alphonse Bonnafé.

These courses literally made Brassens, who was sliding into delinquency, turn onto another path. In your opinion, in this show, is it more a question of transmission, or rather a form of redemption? by knowledge?
That’s almost it. But it’s not a simple transmission, it’s not knowledge that settles. It’s rather the transmission of a desire. Alphonse Bonnafé absolutely quenched Brassens’ thirst for poetry. He gave him an unquenchable thirst for poetry. He opened up this continent to him. Brassens was really a bad student, he didn’t do much culture in 3rd grade. He still liked reading a little, and French was the only subject that spoke to him a little… Bonnafé really opened up this desire to him. So, more than knowledge, it’s a thirst for knowledge. This is the facet that good teachers have.

The Hall of Song at the Avignon Off Festival 2024
Wild Waters (July 3-11, odd days)
Brassens’ Professor (July 4-12, even days).
The performances take place at the Théâtre de l’Arrache-Cœur.