More about the evening's program
FRENCH EVENING WITH VIBRANT WORLD SOPRANO
World-renowned soprano Patricia Petibon comes to Sara kulturhus to pour out declarations of love over the telephone in Francis Poulenc’s iconic La Voix humaine. In addition, the evening offers further French gems by Debussy and Fauré.
The evening begins with a classical favorite. Petite Suite, as it is called in French, is a true evergreen of the classical repertoire. Debussy’s short suite in four parts was originally written for piano four hands, but it is the orchestral version that has perhaps become the most popular. This is also the version performed in tonight’s program. The music is instantly recognizable. Even if you don’t know the title, you’ll likely find yourself humming along with the gently rocking melodies.
The same is true of Gabriel Fauré’s orchestral suite Pelléas et Mélisande, originally a stage work based on Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolist drama from 1892 of the same name. A play about suppressed passion and unfulfilled love that has inspired several prominent fin-de-siècle composers, from Debussy, already mentioned in the program to Sibelius. Fauré’s stage music consists of five songs with English text inspired by Maeterlinck’s drama; it premiered in London in 1898. A few years later, in 1900, Fauré reworked the songs into an orchestral suite. Mélisande’s song was removed, and the third movement, Sicilienne, with its winding and beautiful flute melody, has become the most famous, beloved by many to this day.
After the intermission, it is time for the evening’s main guest, Patricia Petibon. The vibrant French coloratura soprano has a wide repertoire spanning from French Baroque to contemporary music. As the operatic star she is, she alternates her appearances across the major opera houses of Europe and the world. Sweden is also part of that map. Tonight’s performance, however, is her first at Sara kulturhus.
This evening she offers French 20th-century opera at its finest. La Voix humaine by Francis Poulenc is a one-act opera based on Jean Cocteau’s famous play Vox Humana, which portrays a woman who, over the telephone, is forced to say goodbye to her lover. Cocteau was fascinated by the telephone’s impact on human communication, how to depict a farewell between former lovers on stage without the physical presence of the other. The opera premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 6 February 1959 and had its Swedish premiere at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm on 19 April 1974. It has since been performed many times on Swedish opera stages. Petibon recently performed the work at Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, arriving here with a piece that is, for her, freshly sung.
Francis Poulenc immediately understood the dramatic potential of the play and transformed it into a one-act opera. The plot seems simple. On her bed, in her Paris apartment, a woman lies motionless, as if she were dead. Suddenly a telephone rings, and she awakens. It is her former lover calling. A final farewell before a new chapter in his life begins, marriage to another woman. The woman on the line fights to maintain a cool dignity while speaking to her ex-lover, but as memories overwhelm her, she ultimately breaks down. The dramatic arc, from extinguished resignation to expressive despair and back to hopeless disappointment, lends itself perfectly to musical exploration and expressive lyricism. An ideal work for the vibrant Petibon, who is given full freedom to unleash her dramatic abilities.
Musicians
Conductor: Eduardo Strausser
Norrlandsoperan’s Chief Conductor Eduardo Strausser was born in 1985 in São Paulo, Brazil, and has lived in Berlin for several years. He is a frequently engaged conductor and has worked with orchestras in South America, Europe, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. He is also an experienced opera conductor, a skill developed during his tenure as Resident Conductor at Teatro São Paolo between 2014–2016. Already during his studies at Zurich University of the Arts, Eduardo developed an interest in contemporary composers—an interest he now brings with him to Norrlandsoperan. He was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Programme Director at Norrlandsoperan beginning in autumn 2024, with an assignment extending through spring 2027.
Eduardo Strausser also has ongoing collaborations with Kansas City Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, as well as engagements with Bamberger Symphoniker, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre de Montpellier, and Argovia Philharmonic. Previous work includes collaborations with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In the United States he has worked with the symphony orchestras of North Carolina, Detroit and Indianapolis. He has also conducted Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras as well as the New Zealand and West Australian Symphony Orchestras.
Read more: eduardostrausser.com
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Soloist: Patricia Petibon, soprano
The coloratura soprano Patricia Petibon was discovered by William Christie after completing her studies at the Paris Conservatoire under Rachel Yakar. Since then, she has established herself as one of the most versatile singers in her field, with a repertoire spanning from French Baroque to contemporary music. Important milestones in her career include Olympia at Wiener Staatsoper, Blondchen at Opernhaus Zürich, Giunia in Mozart’s Lucio Silla in Barcelona and Madrid, Morgana in Handel’s Alcina at La Scala in Milan, Aspasia in Mozart’s Mitridate at Theater an der Wien and in Munich, and Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival.
She achieved great success as Giunia (Lucio Silla) at Theater an der Wien under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, with whom she shared a profound musical affinity and collaborated regularly. Her interpretation of Berg’s Lulu garnered international acclaim in Geneva, at the Salzburg Festival, and at Liceu in Barcelona. Other highlights include Manon at Wiener Staatsoper and Grand Théâtre de Genève, the role of Mélisande at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) also at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. Petibon has performed all three female roles in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at La Monnaie in Brussels. In spring 2021, she marked a magnificent role debut with Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine and Thierry Escaich’s Point d’Orgue, directed by Olivier Py at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.
Her recent engagements include a new production of La Voix humaine at Opéra national du Rhin directed by Katie Mitchell, Pelléas et Mélisande with Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer, and Così fan tutte at Théâtre du Châtelet as well as in a concert version with Orchestre national de Lyon. In autumn 2024 she appears for the first time as Mère Marie in Olivier Py’s production of Dialogues des Carmélites at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. In addition to many recitals in Vienna, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and Madrid, Patricia Petibon tours during the 2024–2025 season with two programmes: Destins de Reines and Flammes des Magiciennes together with the French Baroque ensemble Amarillis.
Patricia Petibon maintains close musical relationships with Alain Altinoglu, Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico, Bertrand de Billy, Ivor Bolton, Frédéric Chaslin, Myung Whun Chung, Héloïse Gaillard and Amarillis, Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astrée, Daniel Harding, Bernard Haitink, Kristjan Järvi, Louis Langré, Andrea Marcon and La Cetra and Venice Baroque, Josep Pons, François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles, Christophe Rousset, Jérémie Rohrer, Paavo Järvi, and many more.
She is equally at home on the Lieder stage, performing regularly in Paris, Lyon, Lille, Strasbourg, Aix-en-Provence, at Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, at the Salzburg Festival, in Graz, Geneva, Dortmund, Hamburg, Berlin, London’s Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, and Bilbao.
As an advocate for young singers, she co-founded the academy Les Chants d’Ulysse at the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud and Théâtre Le Dôme in Saumur, together with flautist and oboist Héloïse Gaillard, artistic director of Ensemble Amarillis. The academy is aimed at students, singers and musicians, emerging artists, and future professionals.
From 2008 to 2016 Patricia Petibon was an exclusive artist with Deutsche Grammophon. During this period she released arias by Gluck, Mozart and Haydn with Concerto Köln and Daniel Harding; the recording Rosso featuring Italian Baroque arias with La Cetra and Andrea Marcon; Melancolia with Spanish repertoire recorded with Orquesta Nacional de España under Josep Pons. In 2012 she released her solo album Nouveau Monde with Baroque arias and songs recorded with La Cetra and Andrea Marcon. This was followed in 2014 by La Belle Excentrique, an album of French mélodies that received multiple awards. Her albums L’amour, la mort, la mer and later La Traversée with La Cetra and Andrea Marcon were released by Sony Music.
Photographer: LiliRoze
Read more: Patricia Petibon
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Norrlandsoperans Symfoniorkester
Violin I
Anders Hjortvall, Nidhal Jebali, Miguel Chamorro, Kersti Wilhelmsson, Amandus Lind, Kitiara Braune, Matias Malmqvist, Per-Erik Andersson
Violin II
Pontus Björk, Andreas Olsson, Mikhail Zatin, Karin Molander, Lina Samuelsson, EvaBritt Molander, Lisa Erpelding
Viola
Ivan Zecevic, Ester Forsberg, Åsa Hjelm, Pablo Munoz Salido, Karolina Bednarz
Cello
Florian Erpelding, Bekhbat Tsagaanchuluun, Kerstin Isaksson, Karin Bjurman, Kristina Tereschatov
Double Bass
Jan-Emil Kuisma, Charlotte Petersson, Josefin Landmér
Flute
Ebba Wallén, Pepita del Rio
Oboe
Fredrik Söhngen, Johannes Ögren
Clarinet
Tania Villasuso Couceiro, Alberto Álvarez, Jonas Olsson Hakelind
Bassoon
Emily Hultmark, Maria Kindell
Horn
Orvar Johansson, Yerang Ko, Edna Fernandes, Anders Kjellberg
Trumpet
Malin Silbo-Ohlsson, Andreas Carlsson Walleng
Trombone
Peter Nygren, Daniel Bjerhag Hedin, Mathias Petersson
Tuba
Linus Mattsson
Timpani
Ian Piniés
Percussion
Maximiliano Polo, Aleksander Ulriksen, Per Mikaelsson
Harp
Claire Moncharmont
Read more about Norrlandsoperans Symfoniorkester here: norrlandsoperan.se/norrlandsoperans-symfoniorkester
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