DAVID AND JONATHAN, highlight at Aix en Provence
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
DAVID AND JONATHAN
AIX EN PROVENCE: Biblical tragedy in five acts with and a prologue
Libretto by Père François de Paule Bretonneau
Created on 28 February 1688 at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris
| Musical direction | William Christie |
| Stage direction | Andreas Homoki |
| Set designer | Paul Zoller |
| Costumes designer | Gideon Davey |
| Light designer | Franck Evin |
| David | Pascal Charbonneau* |
| Jonathas | Ana Quintans |
| Saul | Neal Davies |
| Achis | Frédéric Caton |
| Joadab | Krešimir Špicer* |
| La Pythonisse (Witch of Endor) | Dominique Visse |
| Ghost of Samuel | Pierre Bessière |
| Chorus | Les Arts Florissants |
| Orchestra | Les Arts Florissants |
William Christie
. Foto: Ana Bloom, Virgin Classics
Production / Coproduction
Festival d’Aix-en-Provence new production
In coproduction with the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Théâtre de Caen and the Teatro Real in Madrid
6 performances between 6-19th July 2012.
“And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah […]:
Ye mountains of Gilboa,
Let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you,
Nor fields of offerings:
For there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away,
The shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil
. […]
O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
Thy love to me was wonderful,
Passing the love of women.
How are the mighty fallen,
And the weapons of war perished!”
Old Testament, Samuel, Book 2, I, 17-27.
The Old Testament tells how the young David, victor over Goliath, calmed King Saul’s dreams with his psalms and how he developed a deep friendship with the King’s son. Inspired by this deep affection, Charpentier composed an opera for a boys’ school: David and Jonathan, a biblical tragedy which, beneath its edifying veneer, displays vibrant scenes that are as passionate as those of the great French lyric tragedy of the time
. The opera freed the French composer from comparison with Lully, in whose shadow he remained while the latter was still alive
the time) AlmostPage 53SHARED CARE CONCEPT (29) viagra online.
. Since its premiere at the Louis-le-Grand Jesuit College in 1688 and its modern revival in 1981 at the Lyon Opera, David and Jonathan has been played in concert, recorded on a few occasions but rarely staged. William Christie, who already produced a seminal recording of the opera, will conduct the first staged version of Charpentier’s masterpiece at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence summer 2012.