George Benjamin, Martin Crimp
Picture a day like this
octoberoct 25 – 31
© Jean-Louis Fernandez ©
© Jean-Louis Fernandez ©
Friday october 25
20h
Sunday october 27
15h
Monday october 28
20h
Wednesday october 30
20h
Thursday october 31
20h
Musical direction George Benjamin. Direction, scenography, dramaturgy and lighting design Daniel Jeanneteau, Marie-Christine Soma. Costumes Marie La Rocca. Video Hicham Berrada. Assistant musical director Marc Hajjar. Assistant director Sérine Mahfoud. Lighting assistant Laurent Irsuti. Singing director Bretton Brown.
Marianne Crebassa – Woman
Anna Prohaska – Zabelle
Beate Mordal – Lover 1 / Composer
Cameron Shahbazi – Lover 2 / Composer’s assistant
John Brancy – Artisan / collector
Matthieu Baquey, Lisa Grandmottet, Eulalie Rambaud – actors
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
World premiere on 5 July 2023 at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume in Aix-en-Provence
Co-commission and co-production Festival d'Aix-en-Provence; Royal Opera House - Covent Garden (London); Opéra national du Rhin; Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Oper Köln; Teatro di San Carlo
Presented with the agreement of Faber Music Ltd (London)
The Festival d'Automne à Paris is partnering the revival of this opera at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique.
“Picture a day like this”, George Benjamin’s masterpiece
Listen on France Culture
Before each performance
45 minutes before the show, meet the theatre's dramaturge in the Salle Bizet for a 15-minute discussion about the work and the context in which it was created. Free on presentation of ticket.
Meet the artists
Sunday 27 October, after the performance, included in the ticket.
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Recital L'amour du chant / Opus 1
Tuesday 29 October, 8pm. Carte blanche is given to the British composer, who has chosen two performers from his repertoire. Works by Benjamin, Debussy, Berg...
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Chamber music concert with George Benjamin
Thursday 31 October, after the performance, a concert of chamber music by George Benjamin with musicians from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
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AccessibilityAudiodescription performances
On Sunday 27 October at 3pm and Monday 28 October at 8pm, a ‘Souffleurs d'images’ service is available on request.
Relax session
Sunday 27 October at 3pm. An inclusive and welcoming performance for people whose disability may lead to atypical and unpredictable behaviour during the performance.
Picture a day like this, the fourth opera by two master-craftsmen, one of words, the other of sound, Martin Crimp and George Benjamin, is a universal tale which is as unreal as it is full of emotions. The piece is a magical fable about human nature and self-discovery.
It begins with a terrible event, that of the death of the child. If, before nightfall, its nameless mother manages to convince a human being, who can say that he or she is happy, to give her, as proof, a button from their sleeve, a miracle will happen, and the child will come back to life. The inspiration for this piece comes from the well-known tale, The Happy Man's Shirt, but also the Alexander Romance, from the ancient Greek tradition, and the Buddhist story of Kisā Gotamī. The opera is a journey, in the manner of Alice in Wonderland, according to Martin Crimp, and moves forwards in sequences, in which each scene has its own musical laws within an interrupted form of continuity. Along her route, the mother meets a loving couple, a rather disturbing craftsman who, before retiring, made buttons, a female composer accompanied by her assistant, and a collector who is moved by the woman's grief. Each encounter, however, brings nothing but disillusionment. At the end of this quest, in a magnificent, calm garden, at the fringes of the material and the immaterial, as can so often be the case in George Benjamin's concise yet enchanting music, the mother meets Zabelle. The latter resembles her, and invites her to perceive things in a different way.
Interview with George Benjamin, Heiner Goebbels & Jérôme Combier