Giacomo Meyerbeer, Anne Warthmann, Faces, Fat Dog, Big Sean, Tigran Hamasyan

• Giacomo Meyerbeer
  The Prophet
  John Osborn, Elizabeth DeShong, Mané Galoyan, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, James Platt, Guilhem Worms, Valerio Contaldo, Lyon Opera Choir, Bouches-du-Rhône Choir, Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Mark Elder (conductor).

Captured at the Grand Théâtre de Provence, in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), The Prophetby Giacomo Meyerbeer, presented in a concert version, is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the 2023 edition of the Festival international d’art lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence, supported by the troops of the Palazzetto Bru Zane. A high-flying vocal cast, an orchestra magnificently conducted by a tightrope walker Mark Elder who is as sensitive to detail as he is concerned with dramaturgy, the grand French opera set against the backdrop of a religious war rediscovers a too-forgotten spectacular. In the title role, John Osborn plays a John of Leyden (a historical character) as powerful as he is inspired as a brutal and tyrannical bloodthirsty fanatic, while at his side, Elizabeth DeShong’s Fidès brilliantly flies through one of the most demanding roles in the repertoire. Mané Galoyan’s solar Berthe contrasts with the demonic darkness of Edwin Crossley-Mercer, the pitiless Zacharie of James Platt, the Jonas of Valerio Contaldo, the Mathisen of Guilhem Worms, all acolytes of the terrible ProphetProtestant leader of the Anabaptists of Münster, Germany, in the midst of the radical Reformation. Marie-Aude Roux

• Anne Warthmann
  In a dream. Solovoice 1
  Works by various composers for solo voice. Anne Warthmann (soprano).

Nineteen pieces (most of them lasting two to three minutes), about fifteen composers (including relatively few well-known names), an entirely a cappella recital… Anne Warthmann’s gamble was risky. It was won, “high voice”. Devoid of instrumental support (with the exception of a few accessories such as the kalimba, which plays the exotic song guides in Melismasby Graciane Finzi), the voice is not suspended in the void or condemned to float in space. It constitutes a vast planet where multiple musical species thrive. With an incantatory tendency (Descended from the starsd’Eric Tanguy) ou introspective (Onlyby Morton Feldman). At ease in all registers, Anne Warthmann also serves pure poetry (the very suggestive Two songs at nightby Betsy Jolas) than musical theater (theAlphabetby Jean-Christophe Rosaz). However, it is with Thierry Pécou that she seems to have the most affinities. The monologues (A song, Eurydice, Tess lament) then turn wonderfully into gentle madness and creative delirium. Pierre Gervasoni

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