Sefarad's

Sephardic songs revisited by Thierry Pécou

Our aim is for this project to be a truly original invitation to a voyage, somewhere between a song recital and a ritual; a voyage into an intimate memory, imbued with the past and an ancestral, traditional, learned repertoire that has highly diverse influences, drawing its sources from popular cultures.

Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Arabic North African, and of course Spanish. We wish to transmit this heritage along with the pleasure of sharing, the orality and the simplicity which are part of Sephardic songs, both sacred and secular. The composition of the pieces, the complexity of the rhythms, the rich blend of the timbres and the virtuosity of the musicians reveal the timelessness of these melodies which thus become very much alive and contemporary.

This is equally an invitation to remember that this exiled people found a way to maintain its Judo-Hispanic tradition, which was then enriched through the contact with other cultures. Our approach is in a certain way an extension of this tradition of exchange.

This performance combines music and contemporary art. By associating ancient melodies with contemporary compositions, enriching contributions of artists from different disciplines create a unique and unusual moment of poetry with Sephardic song at the heart of the work.

Video

Pictures

The cast

Informations

Commission Arsenal de Metz. Co-production Arsenal de Metz, Opéra de Reims, Ensemble Variances, operAct. With the support of: Adami, Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, Journées européennes de la culture juive - Lorraine, Caisse d’épargne, Dodo.

www.gaellemechaly.com www.stephan-grogler.com www.thierrypecou.fr