The global creation of Autumn Trip by Bruno Mantovani, is already giving rise to multiple, enriching and legitimate reflections from all sides. We met the French baritone Pierre-Yves Pruvot, already acclaimed on the Capitole stage and who will, on this occasion, take on the leading role in this opera, that of the writer Marcel Jouhandeau.
Encounter
Classictoulouse: The Capitole invited you for the first time in 2019 for the world premiere of L’Annonce fait à Marie by Marc Bleuse, at the Auditorium Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines. The Toulouse public quickly found you again, in 2020 in Parsifal (Klingsor), then in 2022 you returned for La Gioconda (Barnaba) followed in 2023 for Tristan und Isolde (Kurwenal). Two Wagner operas… What is your current repertoire?
Pierre-Yves Pruvot: In fact my list is very vast: French, Italian, German. I am not at all specialized in any composer or style. Especially since I am a very curious person, wishing to approach, or even record confidential works. I like to explore them. My voice is that of a lyric baritone which naturally matures into that of a dramatic baritone. As such, I have been able to approach the operas of Wagner and Strauss in recent years, while interpreting the major roles of Verdi and Puccini among others.
Are you familiar with world creations and therefore contemporary opera?
I have often participated in world creations. The first contemporary opera I sang was The First Circle of Gilbert Amy during its world premiere at the Lyon Opera in 1999 under the direction of Michel Plasson. I also have in my repertoire a whole range of contemporary works, for voice and piano, voice and orchestra or lyrical works. I like confronting myself with these scores, which give the opportunity to approach other musical languages and explore other facets of one’s own voice, while being freed from the “weight” of previous interpretations…
What was your reaction when Christophe Ghristi asked you to join the cast of this opera?
Very enthusiastic of course, because I don’t receive this kind of proposal every day, and even more so in a theater that is dear to me and where the artistic and technical means allow this type of project to be carried out in the best conditions. I previously knew the work of Bruno Mantovani but I must admit that I was impatient, just like my colleagues in this production, to receive the score of this Travel‘autumn.
Were you previously informed of this trip by French writers to Germany of the 3rde Reich ?
I didn’t have the details in mind but yes, I knew about this trip. That said, apart from Brasillach and Drieu la Rochelle, I didn’t really know the other characters. So I quickly read François Dufay’s book, The Journey of‘autumn, from which the libretto of this opera is closely inspired: it is a brilliant work both in its style and in the patient work of precision in the cross-checking of the different private and public sources to retrace in its smallest details this journey of compromise. I also purchased Gerhard Heller’s book of memories, A German in Pariswhich allows us to immerse ourselves in the literary and artistic world in Paris under the Occupation, and from the point of view of the occupier, which also allows us to shed light on the situation in another light. Our director, Marie Lambert-Le Bihanalso offered us reading tracks as well as podcasts to listen to to familiarize ourselves with this journey and these protagonists. I must here express my admiration to Dorian Astor for its wonderful booklet, designed in close collaboration with Bruno Mantovani. It’s not easy to bring such despicable characters to life on stage: they consciously chose to collaborate with the IIIe Reich and to compromise themselves, when some of their Jewish German colleagues had to go into exile to survive, such as Brecht or Zweig, to name but a few, and the last to the point of suicide. Not to mention the book burnings organized by the Reich, and in particular the Otto list in France. They chose to collaborate and live a worldly and altogether comfortable life in Paris, while others chose the Resistance and sometimes paid a high price. During this time, thousands of women and men – Jews, homosexuals, communists, etc. – were deported, massacred, lobotomized. And this trip to Germany in 1941 is not trivial: outside of all reality, French writers crossed a postcard Germany, in opulence, drunkenness, transgression – even debauchery –, only concerned with their personal glory, draped in the illusion that the Nazis had staged to flatter their egos…
You sing Marcel Jouhandeau, in fact the most important role in the work but also the most dramatically exposed: have you done any personal research on this writer who died in 1979?
Of course. I got his book, The Secret Journey. I read biographical elements to understand the character. I admit that I did not have the courage to read his literary production further. It must be said that in 1937 he was the author of a work entitled The Jewish Peril which, just by its title, sends shivers down the spine, or else a Of abjection in 1939… And then the aim of this opera is not to do a historical reconstruction in a biopic style. As artists, my colleagues and I must bring these anti-heroes to life by showing different sides. We must also bring a part of the imagination. Moreover, the libretto, although faithful to History, still takes some liberties. The important thing was to take possession of our characters as operatic figures, with all the sometimes poetic and always romantic dimension that this implies. Without revealing too much, the libretto slips into the interstices and silences of François Dufay’s book. We are not on stage to give a lesson from the chair about the event but to convey emotions and provoke reflection. Marcel Jouhandeau does things on stage that he would perhaps have liked to do in reality, he who was a deep introvert. Likewise, in the opera, he has an anti-Semitic tirade of rare violence, something which he certainly wrote but which he would never have uttered. I read biographical elements, I know that he had a very complicated intimate life but at the same time I did not want to overwhelm myself with historical references so that they would not have too much weight on my interpretation. and thus leave an important place for my imagination. This is what speaks best to the public. While knowing that we are dependent on the choices of the composer and the librettist! But, for once, we have them both on hand, which we’re not really used to! And it’s a two-way enrichment: our interpretations bring out certain aspects of the work of which the composer and librettist were not necessarily aware. Everyone brings their contribution to the building and it’s fascinating work.
What are the vocal difficulties of this role?
There really isn’t, except that the role is very long. I’m on stage almost constantly and often when I’m not singing, I still have scenes to perform. If there is a problem vocally, it lies in the intonation and rhythm of the prosody, therefore on the purely musical side of the role. In terms of range, the role does not pose any particular concerns for me. On the other hand, his dramatic construction is difficult because he is a character who lives in his own world, far from others. For Marcel Jouhandeau, this trip is not a political act, he experiences it as a journey of love with very adolescent and one-sided accents with Gerhard Heller, this German officer responsible for Culture in Paris. He is totally indifferent to the weight of his presence on this trip, and to the corollary issues. The opera shows us events through the prism of its vision, completely out of sync with the drama playing out in Europe. My work as an interpreter, beyond the judgment I make as a human being, consists of digging into the flaws and intimate fractures of the character as he is presented to us through the libretto and its setting to music. The same goes for other roles like Wotan, Golaud or Scarpia, for example. They all have gray areas that must be nourished in our interpretations. Which gives them more relief. With Marcel Jouhandeau, the ground is fertile. Imagine this very famous man, married, leading a double life because he is homosexual, in love with a German officer and all this under the eyes of Goebbels. This is unthinkable! He wrote everything down in his notebooks. If they had fallen into the hands of a bad person, it would have meant death for both of them. Playing such a character, who in many ways arouses fear in me, is not an easy task; it is essential to find poetic and operatic dimensions.
What thoughts inspire you about this trip as a historical event?
It’s terrible to see that History repeats itself and that this era terribly echoes the contemporary situation. Everything that is happening in the world, and even recently without going into detail, shows us that totalitarianism is taking over. I am unfortunately convinced that Culture will suffer serious consequences. That said, as long as there are opera theaters, we can always hope…
What are your plans after this fall trip?
[Rires !!!] I am going to rest, in the heart of the Alps, where I live, because this creation requires a lot of energy, concentration and investment, between the musical, dramatic and dramaturgical preparation, and the immersion in the darkest pages of History. After these performances, I will need nature, isolation and especially my family! Then I will resume concerts and recitals in the coming months, and in particular another trip, winter this time, the Winter trip by Schubert, a show designed by my partner, Caroline Blanpiedwhere I sing the cycle staged with the screening of a feature film that we made in recent months: an extraordinary adventure! And of course hoping to return to the Capitol stage soon…
Comments collected by Robert Pénavayre
a ClassicToulouse column
Learn more:
> Autumn Journey, world premiere opera from the Opéra national du Capitole
> Interview with Bruno Mantovani
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