More than a creation, a re-creation!
Gilbert Amy's Premier Cercle was first performed at the Opéra de Lyon in 1999.
21 years later, as part of the Solzhenitsyn centenary celebrations, this opera is reborn at Massy in a new version.
Le Premier Cercle, staging by Lukas Hemleb, 2021 (2020/2021) by Gilbert Amy, Lukas Hemleb, and Alexandre SoljenitsyneOpéra de Massy
Reduced to 13 scenes, it focuses on the feelings and emotions of the characters. With 4 singers, 1 actor and a brand-new orchestration, this is a re-creation!
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: the gulag from the inside.
The project is based on the novel by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970. Arrested in January 1945 for criticizing Stalin in his correspondence, he was imprisoned and sent to the Gulag.
Alexandre Soljenitsyne's portrait, Le Premier Cercle, staging by Lukas Hemleb, 2021 (2020/2021) by Gilbert Amy and Lukas HemlebOpéra de Massy
He was detained there for eight years, and has been telling his story ever since. The First Circle, begun in 1955, is one of his major works. Here he is with Dmitri Panine and Lev Kopelev, who inspired the Roubine character in The First Circle.
A bespoke decor
Lili Kendaka designed the set and costumes for this production. For the set, director Lukas Hemleb imagined a scientific cluster where the characters, surrounded by their work tools, carry out their research.
Books, encyclopedias and papers must be omnipresent... So Lili Kendaka imagines "pretend" books and proposes to place them in the middle of real books.
Détour par l'atelier - Céline Miquelis, painter/decorator, and her atelier Alla Prima were responsible for the entire décor. To complement the initial shelf, another was created, this time using a different technique. Based on a wooden structure, polystyrene book fronts were sculpted, painted and then carefully redecorated. Amidst real books, the illusion is perfect!
Gilbert Amy, composer and librettist
Academician and teacher Gilbert Amy is one of our greatest composers of contemporary music. For this version of Premier Cercle, he has imagined a totally reworked score.
In Premier Cercle, Gilbert Amy chisels out his writing, drawing a counterpoint to the vocal line and choosing, in particular, to insert an accordion. Under the baton of Julien Leroy, the musicians of Ensemble Court-Circuit bring the score to life.
The "First Circle", a story inspired by real events...
In post-war Moscow, several men are working on a machine that can identify a man by his voice.
The charachka, Le Premier Cercle, staging by Lukas Hemleb, 2021 (2020/2021) by Gilbert Amy and Lukas HemlebOpéra de Massy
They are prisoners in the Charachka, a special prison for scientists, the first "liveable" circle in the Soviet concentration camp system.
... and universal passions.
In this story, Gleb Nerzhin - mathematician and political prisoner - hasn't seen his wife Nadia in months. Incarcerated for over 8 years, his affair with Lieutenant Simotchka makes his imprisonment barely bearable.
Soloists: Franck Lopez [Roubine], Bastien Rimondi [Nerjine], Brenda Poupard [Lieutenant Simotchka], Marianne Croux [Nadia]. Ensemble Court-Circuit is directed by Julien Leroy.
Did you say surtitling? In Massy, all operas are surtitled: the sung words are displayed simultaneously on a screen above the stage. Behind it all is the surtitler! For Le Premier Cercle, Lydie Pravikoff surtitled 501 times: one number per box displayed. On average, there are between 1,000 and 1,200 boxes. For the longest operas, we can go up to 1600 boxes! Three watchwords: calm, concentration and a musical ear.
Le Premier Cercle, staging by Lukas Hemleb, 2021 (2020/2021) by Gilbert Amy and Lukas HemlebOpéra de Massy
Ladies and gentlemen of the performing arts: time for the bows!
Taking a bow is more than a ritual. It's a unique moment when artists leave their roles and receive the applause they so richly deserve. That's why it's important to take turns! That's the job of Ivan Cavalcanti, stage manager.
Le Premier Cercle, staging by Lukas Hemleb, 2021 (2020/2021) by Gilbert Amy and Lukas HemlebOpéra de Massy
Exposition virtuelle créée et rédigée par Eugénie Boivin en collaboration avec Camille Tron de Bouchony pour l'Opéra de Massy.
L'Opéra de Massy remercie chaleureusement le Comité pour la célébration du centenaire de Soljenitsyne ainsi que Gilbert Amy pour leur confiance dans ce projet.
Nous remercions les photographes du Massy Photo Club ainsi que Lukas Hemleb d'avoir partagé leurs clichés avec nous.
Une création est toujours un grand moment dans une maison d'opéra. Elle est synonyme de joie, de créativité et de partage. En 2021, dans le contexte sanitaire que nous avons tous connu, ce Premier Cercle a représenté encore plus... Nous y sommes arrivés ! Ensemble.
