The 7 Last Words of Christ on the Cross

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The 7 Last Words
of Christ on the Cross
Clarac & Deloeuil > le lab
10, cours Pasteur - 33 000 Bordeaux - T. 33 (0) 9 60 44 79 19 - production@clarac-deloeuil.fr - www.clarac-deloeuil.fr
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The 7 Last Words of Christ on the Cross
Joseph Haydn, 1787
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Coproduction: Clarac-Deloeuil > le lab / Fundaçao Gulbenkian, Lisbon
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Premiered: March 5 & 6 2015 - Fundaçao Gulbenkian, Lisbon
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November 7, 2015 - Casa da Musica, Porto
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PRODUCTION
Musical Ensemble and Narrator:
Each Presenter is free to present the production in the: Original Orchestra version
(1786), String Quartet version (1787), Oratorio version (Orchestra, Chorus, 6 Soloists)
(1796).
The production is presented without supertitles.
Chosen by the Presenter, in collaboration with C&D > le lab, the Narrator delivers his
text in the official language of the country.
Production:
Clarac-Deloeuil > le lab / Fundaçao Gulbenkian, Lisbon
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Production team:
Installation and Videos, Jean-Philippe Clarac & Olivier Deloeuil
Lighting, Christophe Pitoiset
Cinematography, Julien Roques
Editing, Jean-François Hautin
Literary consultant, Luc Bourrousse
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Duration: 90 minutes, without intermission.
STAGING INTENTIONS
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“Each sonata, or each text, is expressed by purely instrumental music
in such a fashion that it produces the deepest impression
in the soul of even the most uninstructed listener."
(Haydn, letter to his publisher Forster, April 1787)
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Premiered in Cadiz in 1787, the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross were originally
intended to provide a musical accompaniment to an highly theatrical ritual for Good Friday : The
walls, windows and pillars of the church were hung with black cloth, and only one large lamp
hanging from the ceiling broke the solemn darkness. Seven musical sequences accompanied the
meditation of the audience, after the officiant glossed from the pulpit each of the seven utterances
of Christ on the Cross.
Combining orchestral music, videos and theater, our Installation reinvents this very specific
atmosphere, by giving a theatrical twist to the usual concert presentation of Haydn’s masterpiece :
Standing on an impressive scaffolding, the Narrator faces the audience. He delivers his lines like a
bishop standing on a stylized pulpit. Our texts consist in 7 collages, combining various literary
sources (Holy Scriptures, poetry, but also excerpts of well-known classics by famous philosophers
and novelists). All these texts meditate on the resonance in the 7 Words of the secular questions of
our time : abandonment and violence, birth, genealogy and kinship.
Simultaneously, 7 short-films are projected on the scenery, like video images presented on
a stylized Altarpiece. They take the audience to Jerusalem : 7 inhabitants of the Holy city are
filmed, while listening to Haydn’ music, for the very first time of their life. At the same time, the
audience gathered in solemn darkness listen to the exact same musical sequences. All of them are
thus constantly connected by Haydn’s music.
7 « living characters », 7 inhabitants of Jerusalem, 7 anonymous faces who listen to
Haydn’s music, peacefully staring at the camera. The genuine simplicity of their listening to the
music, visible on their silent faces while they stare at us, in real time.
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By capturing the ritualistic feel of the original, our multi-disciplinary presentation proposes
a new kind of dramatic ritual, both theatrical and meditative : The live combination of orchestral
music, poetry and silent images of Jerusalem’s inhabitants’ gaze. The kind of gaze that refers you
back to an interrogation, back to your own gaze. SYNOPSIS
7 Words, 10 Sequences, 1 Story
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Sequence #1 : Entrance in the hall
Our theatrical ritual captures the spirit of the original 1787 ritual in Cadiz : The spectators enter a
deliberately darkened hall. Ushers welcome them and walk them to their seats. The atmosphere
is peaceful and deeply meditative.
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Sequence #2 : Introduction
When the musical Introduction begins, a first short-film takes us to Jerusalem : On the video, we
follow a group of Pilgrims on the famous Via Dolorosa. We explore lively souks and marketplaces,
all packed with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as tourists and pilgrims of various religious
communities.
At the same time, the lighting reveals the Narrator, already seated among the musicians. The
Narrator frequently stares at the video, as if he was discovering Jerusalem.
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Sequence #3 : Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
In the silence immediately following the Introduction, the Narrator delivers a brief text, a collage
combining the Holy Scripture with poetry and excerpts of well-known classics by famous
philosophers and novelists.
When the first « Word » is over, the Narrator fades out into darkness. The orchestra plays the
first Sonata.
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During this first Sonata, we discover in the video a group of pilgrims from South America, seated
at the entrante of the Holy Sepulcre. They are filmer while listening to the exact same music as
we do, gathered in the Concert Hall. Their faces thus become emotional landscapes for Haydn’s
music.
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Sequences #4 to 9:
This system is repeated 7 times. In relation to the 7 Last Words and the 7 Sonatas, several
characters appear in the videos, one after the other. Anonymous faces, inhabitants of
Jerusalem, who listen to Haydn’s music for the very first time of their life.
Throughout the performance, the Narrator climbs into the stylized Altarpiece, so that he delivers
his last speech from the top of this stylized pulpit.
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Among them:
- Sonata 1: A group of pilgrims at the entrance of the Holy Sepulcre.
- Sonata 2: Ethiopian monk, seated on the rooftop of his church.
- Sonata 3: A young Israelian army reservist, filmed in David’s Citadel.
- Sonata 4: A young Palestinian, at night, near the Dome of the Rock.
- Sonata 5: A young woman strolling around the Jewish quarter.
- Sonata 6: Teenagers in the Gethsemani garden and in the Mahane Yehouda marketplace.
- Sonata 7: A taxi driver and his client, filmed on the Mount of Olives.
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Sequence #10:
At the end of the piece, just before the Presto, the Narrator turns back to his original position,
among the musicians.
On the Terremoto, the translucent curtains (used as screens for the videos) dramatically fall
down on the stage floor.
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A DVD of the show is available on demand. TECHNICAL ELEMENTS
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A detailed Technical Rider can be provided on demand.
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CALENDAR
> J-3: Team arrival & scenic equipment load-in:
Staff on tour (4 people) will arrive 3 days before the performance.
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> Set-up and video tests: 6 Calls of 4 hours each
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SCENERY
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The scenery consists in a stylized Altarpiece, made out of metallic tubes and wood.
Dimensions: 8 meters long / 6,7 meters hight.
White Fluorescents and some lighting equipments are part of that construction.
Videos are projected on 3 screens. Projections from the video booth or lighting booth (Video projector to be provided by the
presenter: ideally 12000 Lumens).
All Videos are provided by C&D > le lab.
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Orchestra players and music stands with lighting equipments (dimmable) are placed in
front of the scenery. Orchestra pit is covered.
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COSTUMES & PROPS
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Costume & props for the Narrator are provided by C&D > le lab.
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SOUND
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Narrator requires a Lavaliere microphone HF.
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CLARAC-DELOEUIL > LE LAB
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Based in Bordeaux, where Jean-Philippe Clarac and Olivier Deloeuil founded it in
2009, Clarac-Deloeuil>le lab is a creative arts company that produces opera,
theater and video-art installations with the most notable European companies
(Opéra National de Paris, Opéra Comique, Fundaçao Gulbenkian Lisbon, Cité de la
Musique, Brussels Philharmonic, Théâtre Nanterre Amandiers, Musica Festival
Strasbourg, Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano, Casa da Musica
Porto).
Our productions explore the theatricality of opera and classical music, by
proposing an unique experience before, during and after the performance. Each
project is conceived as a site-specific proposition. The performance thus
becomes part of a larger multi-disciplinary storytelling, which totally immerses
the venue, the concert-hall and the audience into the spirit of the piece.
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JEAN-PHILIPPE CLARAC & OLIVIER DELOEUIL
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www.clarac-deloeuil.fr
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Jean-Philippe Clarac et Olivier Deloeuil met in Bordeaux while studying political
science and fine arts history. In 2001, Maestro Yves Abel invited them to stage
Gluck’s Pèlerins de la Mecque at the Opéra Français de New York (OFNY).
They were artistic directors of OFNY from 2005 to 2012. In 2009, they founded in
Bordeaux their own company: Clarac-Deloeuil > le lab.
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Their directing credits include: Messiaen’s Harawi, Song of Love and Death (Opéra
Comique, Musica Festival Strasbourg), Debussy’s Martyre de St Sébastien (Cité
de la Musique, Arsenal de Metz, Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon), Poulenc’s
Dialogues of the Carmelites and Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Opéra de Toulon),
Debussy’s Fall of the House of Usher (Opéra National de Paris), Dusapin’s To Be
Sung (OFNY), Gounod’s Romeo & Juliette (Spoleto USA Festival), Gounod’s Faust
(Opéra National de Bordeaux), Offenbach’s Contes d’Hoffmann (Angers Nantes
Opéra), Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Lélio (Orchestre des ChampsElysées), Auber’s Manon Lescaut (Wexford Festival Opera).
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Jean-Philippe Clarac and Olivier Deloeuil teach the course French opera, a political
art form at Sciences Po Paris.
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2014-15 Season : Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale (Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di
Montepulciano / Eté Métropolitain, Bordeaux) ; Haydn’s 7 Last Words of Christ on
the Cross (Fundaçao Gulbenkian Lisbon).
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CONTACT LIST
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Mélanie PANCZUK
Administration
administration@ clarac-deloeuil.fr
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Hugo BLAISE
Production
production@clarac-deloeuil.fr
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Christophe PITOISET
Technical coordinator
info@clarac-deloeuil.fr
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www.clarac-deloeuil.fr
10, Cours Pasteur
33000 Bordeaux - France
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T. +33 9 60 44 79 19