Contre-Temps
Another surprise trip to the theater last night, where I saw "Contre-Temps" by Samuel Sené. Fantastic!
Julien Mouchel (piano), Marion Préïté, and Marion Rybaka in "Contre-Temps".
Like a documentary but on stage: instead of archival footage and a voice-over, everything is narrated in the present by two singers and a pianist who recount the – exhilarating – life of the composer François Courdot by performing his main works.
At the heart of the show, there's a magnificent rendition of Purcell's "Cold Song". Here's Klaus Nomi's version again:
On the way out, I looked into this piece: everyone knows the melody, but often not the lyrics – which could come straight out of Game of Thrones:
What power art thou, who from below
Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow
From beds of everlasting snow?
See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold,
I can scarcely move or draw my breath?
Let me, let me freeze again to death.
Another amusing detail: I realized that the music for the show had been arranged by Raphaël Bancou, a pianist friend I hadn't seen in ten years. I sent him a message, and I'm going to see him on Tuesday at the Rond Point in "Je suis Gréco." Life, sometimes.