Soloists; Orchestre classique de Montreal; Alain Trudel
Release Date: 12 April 2024
Label: Atma Classique
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 722056288026
Description
ATMA Classique is delighted to release the world premiere recording of David Bontemps' 2020 chamber opera La Flambeau, based on the eponymous drama by Haitian playwright Faubert Bolivar.
La Flambeau was premiered on February 7, 2023 at Montreal's Salle Pierre-Mercure with Suzanne Taffot, Catherine Daniel, Paul Williamson and Brandon Coleman and the Orchestre classique de Montreal, conducted by Alain Trudel. Set in Haiti, the libretto for La Flambeau was adapted by Bontemps himself.
La Flambeau tells the story of a dysfunctional couple, Monsieur (a narcissistic, ambitious intellectual obsessed with the ideals of the Republic) and Mademoiselle (who talks to her dead parents), who hire a working-class housewife. Through imposed dogma and deceptive behaviour, Monsieur abuses Mademoiselle. After a trial and a surreal confession, Monsieur is condemned through a kind of popular justice to become a zombie at the service of all.
The music, woven from accessible melodies and imbued with Afro-Haitian elements, uses thematic cycles that intensify with the plot. "From a musical point of view, Bontemps' work adopts the ascetic style of chamber opera: the four characters express themselves in an unadorned melodic language, chanted to the rhythm of the spoken word and a string orchestra supported by the light percussion of a pair of maracas," says musicologist Claude Dauphin about La Flambeau.
Born in Port-au-Prince, David Bontemps is now based in Montreal.
"The work has a compelling, stripped-down kind of dramatic effectiveness […]. The music is tonal, with a natural fusion of dialogue and expressive melodic elements. Bontemps includes Caribbean elements, most notably a pair of maracas, but does not overplay the Haitian element, which is all the more powerful as a result. […] This recording from the ATMA Classique label is especially recommended to chamber opera presenters" – AllMusic
Tracklisting
Flute Alors
Marie Nadeau-Tremblay; Corriveau; Milnes; Bursey
Louise Bessette
Jeffrey Stonehouse, Viviane Gosselin, Daniel Anez Garcia, Victor Alibert, Hubert Brizard, David The
Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, Alain Trudel
Arion Orchestre Baroque, Mathieu Lussier, Magali Simard-Galdes, Nicholas Scott, Melisande McNabney
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Jean-Sebastien Vallee
Quatuor Molinari
Horst Wolf
Sophie Gordeladze, Hector Sandoval, Luca Grassi, Martin Piskorski, Rory Dunne, Cappella Aquileia, T
Tina Gorina; Vivica Genaux; Giulio Pelligra; German Olvera; Riccardo Novaro; Ugo Guagliardo; Pawel
Marta Torbidoni; David Astorga; German Olvera; Aleksey Bogdanov; Matheus Pompeu; Paulina Boreczko;
Anita Cerquetti
Bayerischer Staatsopernchor & Orch, Keilberth
Marina Rebeka, Orquesta y Coro del Teatro Real, Madrid, John Fiore
Francesco Ledda, Opera Discovery Orchestra, Amarilli Nizza, Fabuo Armiliato, Massimiliano Fichera,
