Thursday 24 March 2022, 6.30pm
Friday 25 March 2022, 2.30pm - performance for schools
Friday 25 March 2022, 6.30pm
Opéra de Reims
Wednesday 20 April 2022, 8.30pm
Thursday 21 April 2022, 8.30pm
Théâtre Montansier de Versailles
Thursday 28 April 2022, 8.30pm
Opéra Grand Avignon
Tuesday 24 May 2022
La Barcarolle de Saint-Omer
Wednesday 25 May 2022
Carré Sam, Boulogne-sur-mer
Casting
Vincent Tavernier, stage director
Les Malins Plaisirs
Assistant satge director Marie-Louise Duthoit
Le Concert Spirituel
Marie-Geneviève Massé, choreography
Cie de danse L’Eventail
Choreography assistant Olivier Collin
Claire Niquet, décor
Erick Plaza-Cochet, costumes
Carlos Perez, lumières
With
Clément Debieuvre, haute-contre
François Joron, taille
François Héraud, basse-taille
Malins Plaisirs' comedians
Quentin-Maya Boyé or Pierre-Guy Cluzeau, Don Pedre
Marie Loisel or Jeanne Bonenfant, Isidore
Maxime Costa or Laurent Prévôt, Adraste
Benoît Dallongeville or Olivier Berhault, Hali
Cie l'Eventail's dancers
Adeline Lerme, Marionnettiste / Marionnette / Zaïde
Artur Zakirov, Marionnettiste / Marionnette / Manipulateur
Concert Spirituel Quatuor
Nathalie Petibon, Renata Duarte, Johanne Maitre, Vincent Blanchard, oboes and flutes (alternatly)
Lucile Tessier, bassoon
Simon Waddell, Victorien Disse, theorbo (alternatly)
The performances of The Sicilian are dedicated to the memory of Laure Duthuillié, oboist at the Concert Spirituel Orchestra, who passed away too prematurely in January 2022.
Tinming : 1h20 withoutintermission
From 12 ans
Coproduction: Les Malins Plaisirs, Le Concert Spirituel, L'Eventail, Angers-Nantes Opéra, Le Grand T de Nantes, Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, the Opéras of Massy, Reims et Grand Avignon, Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, Théâtre Montansier de Versailles, La Barcarolle - Théâtre du Pays de Saint-Omer, Théâtre Alexandre Dumas de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the city of Touquet-Paris-Plage.
Comédie ballet in one act
Le Sicilien owes its brevity to its place in the immense and sumptuous Ballet des Muses, of which it was only one of the fourteen "entries" - but the very last, and therefore the "highlight". In barely an hour, Molière and Lully outdid themselves. All the codes of courtly comedy are respected: the place of the love story in the gallant tone, the refinement of the modes of expression, and, of course, the exaltation of French excellence! But the two accomplices, always experts in the art of knowing how far to go, have no hesitation in mixing the joys of farce (with "turqueries" and burlesque entertainment in sabir), irony as to the supposed national characteristics (including French ones) and the pursuit of their research on the genre.
Molière, in particular, tested an extreme mode of dramatic writing. His prose - always musical - reaches a refinement unique in his work. Entirely composed of blank verse, echoes and assonance, the language assigned to the actors is in perfect harmony with the musical universe into which it is subtly integrated.
Argument
The scene is set in Sicily - in the spirit of the time, an exotic and sunny land, conducive to all kinds of fantasy; the more or less fantasy melting pot where all the nations around the Mediterranean meet and mingle; a land, finally, where passions are reputed to be violent and the jealousy of the natives proverbial. The young Adraste, a worthy representative of French excellence and its well-known gallantry, is madly in love with the beautiful Isidore, the captivating Greek slave of the severe Sicilian Don Pedro - who, of course, has destined her for his bed. How will Adraste know whether his feelings are shared by the beautiful Isidore? With the help of his Turkish slave Hali (the deceiver, but not very clever), the young man will undertake a series of... gallant tricks.
