A dialogue between works by two composers close to Jean Cocteau – Francis Poulenc and Clément Doucet – accompanied by an improvisation by Orlando Bass on the poet’s aphorisms. And as a grand finale, an excerpt from György Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre.
Soprano and piano duo
Clara Barbier, soprano
Born in Montpellier, Clara Barbier played the violin, sang in a choir and studied languages and music before specialising in singing. A Young Talent at the Jaroussky Academy, she is a graduate of the Royal College of Music Opera Studio in London, among other institutions. Her opera roles have taken her to France and across Europe. As a scholarship holder of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, she has shared the stage with Andrea Bocelli in Italy and internationally. Interdisciplinary and contemporary music projects form an important part of her work.
Orlando Bass, piano
A French pianist, harpsichordist and composer of British origin born in 1994, Orlando Bass studied at the Paris Conservatoire. The modern and contemporary repertoire he frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician is particularly close to his heart, leading him to create new works, without neglecting the more classical repertoire, always striving to connect the present with the past in one way or another.
Programme:
Clément Doucet, Isoldina
Francis Poulenc, melodies Les Fiançailles pour rire based on poems by Louise de Vilmorin, La Dame d’André, Dans l’herbe, Il vole, Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant, Violon, Fleurs
Improvisations on texts by Jean Cocteau
Clément Doucet, Chopinata
Francis Poulenc, melodies Cocardes based on poems by Jean Cocteau, Miel de Narbonne, Bonne d’enfant, Enfant de troupe
Orlando Bass, Aphorisms based on phrases by Jean Cocteau (premiere)
Francis Poulenc, La Dame de Monte-Carlo – Monologue based on a text by Jean Cocteau
György Ligeti, Mysteries of the Macabre