Over the past 10 years, Ictus and Le Concert d’Astrée have set their stamp on the Lille Opera, attracting a public of unconditional supporters who come out in droves to attend their concerts and productions. From the very first note, they know how to create a unique atmosphere. To celebrate the 10th anniversary since its reopening, the Opera invites them to share the same stage for two exceptional anniversary evenings.

In the first half, in a spirit of celebration and cheerful combat, Jean-François Sivadier will be the referee in the ring where the two ensembles will wage battle, the Ancients versus the Moderns, in the manner of the “Pan vs. Apollo” musical contests of the 17th century: who is the most worthy for his art? You cannot forget the Past, the first contenders argue; you have no right to scorn the Present, the others retort – and the ensembles face off valiantly to the blows of masterpieces. In the second half, with the premiere of a short opera by Helmut Oehring, the two ensembles bury the hatchet and come together to serve a dream team of singers. The founding work from which the opera derives its plot, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, here will be mixed by the impertinent Berlin composer with an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – a dive into the colonial disaster that inspired Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Straight to Hell, with this hallucinatory game that morphs between the Baroque and the contemporary.

La Querelle Texts extracts from XVIIth century about the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns and works of baroque and contemporary musics.

With
Actor Jean-François Sivadier
Soprano Laura Claycomb
Countertenor Serge Kakudji
Tenor John Mark Ainsley

Le Concert d’Astrée
Conductor Emmanuelle Haïm
Ictus
Conductor François Deppe

Orfeo14 [Vol.1] Creation by Helmut Oehring (born in 1961) a scenic concert according to L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi (text and music) and Heart of Darkness short story by Joseph Conrad

Music Helmut Oehring
Libretto Stefanie Wördemann
Conception and mise en espace Helmut Oehring, Stefanie Wördemann
Lights Tom Bruwier
Musical electronic studio Torsten Ottersberg / Gogh smp

With
Soprano Laura Claycomb
Countertenor Serge Kakudji
Tenor John Mark Ainsley
Sign language actor Christina Schoenfeld
Double bass and voice Matthias Bauer
Electric guitar and voice Tom Pauwels

Le Concert d’Astrée
Conductor Emmanuelle Haïm
Ictus
Conductor François Deppe