Dafne

The laurel wreath is the prize of the victorious poet. It is also a hunting trophy, and a mortuary symbol, commemorating the ill-fated passion that caused Apollo to chase the nymph Daphne, who metamorphosized into a tree rather than let herself be captured...

At the start of the 17th century, the myth of Daphne provided Heinrich Schütz, considered the "German Monteverdi", the material for a pastoral opera. Premiered in 1627, his Dafne marks a key date in the history of German opera. Unfortunately, the score was lost and only the libretto by Martin Opitz remains today. A reading of the latter prompted Geoffroy Jourdain to follow in the tracks of Apollo. The fate of the god conquered by Cupid, vainly seeking the object of his desire, can be seen as an image of the artistic quest. The founder and director of Cris de Paris invited Wolfgang Mitterer to recreate from the words of Martin Opitz a new work, in which the roles seem to surge up from the choral mass before diving back down, where electronic instruments blur the frontiers between song and pure material vibration. Aurelien Bory has designed for this operatic metamorphosis a circular space that is both enveloping and dynamic: as secret as the rings of a tree, as vast and profound as the spheres of the ancient cosmos.

Production Les Cris de Paris – Geoffroy Jourdain avec la Compagnie 111 – Aurélien Bory

Coproduction Opéra de Dijon, Opéra de Reims, Théâtre du Capitole – Toulouse, Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet – Paris, Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, Points communs – Nouvelle scène nationale de Cergy-Pontoise et du Val d’Oise, La Muse en circuit – Centre National de Création musicale

With support of théâtre Garonne, scène européenne – Toulouse.

In partnership with 

Concept Geoffroy Jourdain, Aurelien Bory, Wolfgang Mitterer
Opera for 12 singers and electronics,
based on the libretto by Martin Opitz

Music Wolfgang Mitterer
Musical director Geoffroy Jourdain

Les Cris de Paris

Staging Aurelien Bory
Staging assistant Gabrielle Maris Victorin
Artistic technical collaboration Stéphane Dardé
Sets Pierre Dequivre
Lighting Arno Veyrat
Costumes Alain Blanchot

Soprano Adele Carlier, Anne-Emmanuelle Davy, Michiko Takahashi, Amandine Trenc
Mezzo-soprano Jeanne Dumat, Floriane Hasler, Clotilde Cantau
Tenor Safir Behloul, Constantin Goubet
Baritone Mathieu Dubroca
Bass-baritone Virgile Ancely, Renaud Bres