Tales of Moonlight and Rain

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A chamber opera by Xavier Dayer (premiere); stage direction by Richard Brunel; libretto by Alain Perroux after the scenario for the film of the same name by Kenji Mizoguchi, with young singers in professional insertion and the Linea Ensemble / Jean-Philippe Wurtz.

Please note this training is canceled for 2012.

> Faculty

> Places available for

> Professional career insertion

> Status of participants

> Presentation

> Method

> Practical instruction

> Theoretical instruction

> Calendar

> Fee Information

Faculty

Xavier Dayer, composer
(Le marin, Fernando Pessoa, Festival Amadeus de Meinier Geneva 1999; Mémoires d’une jeune fille triste, Grand Théâtre de Genève 2005; Les aveugles, Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra National de Paris 2006; Delights Ensemble Intercontemporain 2007)
Professor of composition and theory at the Haute Ecole des Arts de Berne, residence at the Villa Médicis in 2009, former pupil of Heinz Holliger, Tristan Murail and Brian Ferneyhough…
He has studied and subsequently taught at Royaumont within the Voix nouvelles composition session.

Richard Brunel, stage director
Director of the CDN-Comédie de Valence, he will premier Re Orso by Marco Stroppa in 2012 at the Opéra Comique and direct Mozart’s Mariage of Figaro at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Significant operatic activity includes: L’Elixir d’Amour by Donizetti at the Lille and Rouen Operas in 2010, Albert Herring by Britten conducted by L. Equilbey at the Rouen Opera and the Opéra Comique in 2010, L’infedelta Delusa by Haydn conducted by Jérémie Rhorer at the d’Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2008…

Jean-Philippe Wurtz, orchestra conductor
Musical director of Linea, he was assistant to Kent Nagano at the Opera in Lyon and to Friedemann Layer at the Orchestre Philharmonique in Montpellier. He performs in particular with the national orchestras of Montpellier, Bordeaux-Aquitaine, the Pays de Loire…, has worked at the National Opera in Lyon, the Vlaamse Opera (Antwerp), the National Opera of Paris-Bastille, with stage directors such R. Carsen, A. Arias, D. Mesguich, J. Dew…, after having done advanced study with Peter Eötvös in the sessions at Szombathely (Hungary), Ernest Bour at the Musikhochschule in Karlsruhe at the Conservatoire National de Région in Strasbourg.

Alain Perroux, playwright, librettist
Alain Perroux is presently artistic advisor and playwright of the Aix-en-Provence Festival. He has been musical journalist with the Journal de Genève and Le Temps, then playwright at the Grand Théâtre de Genève from 2001 to 2009. A regular contributor to L’Avant-Scène Opéra, he has written monographs on Frank Martin and Franz Schreker (Papillon editions) as well as L’Opéra, mode d’emploi and La Comédie musicale, mode d’emploi (L’Avant-Scène Opéra editions). At the head of the Opéra de Poche he has also produced and directed Impressions de Pelléas after Debussy in 2004, La Calisto by Cavalli in 2006 and Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim in 2008 et 2009.

Places available for

singers:
lyrical soprano (Princesse Wakasa)
mezzo (Miyagi)
countertenor (la gouvernante, the old priest, the boat man)
tenor (Tobei)

Professional career insertion

Staged production in November 2012 followed by a touring period with 10 performances at the Comédie de Valence, the Bouffes du Nord and the Saint-Etienne Opera.
Repeat performances are foreseen for March 2013.

Status of participants

For the instruction period, participants have a training contract.
Beginning with the period of production, participants benefit from a limited-duration (CDD), professional engagement contract.
(Remuneration of rehearsals at the SYNDEAC minimum rate and remuneration of the performances at a minimum of 300 € gross).

Presentation

This adaptation of the film scenario by Kenji Mizoguchi retains the main plot thereof: the story of a village potter from the Japanese 16th century (Genjuro) who chooses to leave for the capital in order to sell his production despite internal warring. Upon reaching the city, he falls under the spell of a “phantom” woman and forgets everything from his prior life. When he is finally liberated from this bondage, he returns to his village and realizes that he has lost his wife and child, victims of the war’s ravages. In counterpoint to this main narration, another is woven in, that of Tobei who will do anything to become a samourai.

Method

Individual lessons (with the conductor, the director, the rehearsal assistants).
This workshop offers the possibility of a genuine production setting. The work overall in rehearsals, the demands made of the artistic teams (staging, musical) are identical to those encountered within the professional milieu. This will enable any young singer to come face to face with the reality of the metier and ensure optimal preparation for the first professional engagements

Practical instruction

Study of contemporary vocal practices from the 20th and 21st centuries: from Schoenberg through Apergis. Study, learning, rehearsal and delving ever deeper into Xavier Dayer’s score with the musical team (vocal/role coaches, conductor, vocal technique instructor). Musical work on style, musical and vocal characterization of the personages in keeping with their role and vocal/dramatic genre.

Theoretical instruction

› evolution in the treatment of the voice in 20th century music: Schoenberg (Pierrot lunaire), Bério, Stockhausen
› evolution of the opera genre in the 20th century: Berg, Zimmermann, Stockhausen
› evolution of the notation of contemporary vocal music: Cage, Feldman
› analysis and presentation of the three preceding operas of Xavier Dayer (Le marin, 1999; Mémoires d’une jeune fille triste, 2005; Les aveugles, 2006)

Calendar

Auditions

Audition to be foreseen between December 2011 and March 2012 (date to be determinated)

Please present a repertory aria of your choice, a contemporary work of your choice and an excerpt, sung from memory, of the score available on the website of the Foundation.

Sessions

from Saturday 14 through Friday 20 April 2012,learning of the musical roles
from Friday 17 through Friday 31 August 2012, musical, theatrical and staging work and a 3rd session of 15 days at the end of the year 2012 (dates to be determined)
for 37 days of instruction

Public presentations

Fenêtres sur cour[s] on Friday 20 April 2012 at 6 pm
and on Friday 31 August 2012 at 6 pm
at the time of the third session (date to be determined)

Fee Information

The cost-sharing fee is made up of a compulsory registration fee (including membership in the Association des amis de Royaumont and access to the François Lang Music Library), tuition, and boarding expenses.

The Royaumont Foundation takes over expenses for accomodations (room, board and breaks) during the entire duration of the training.

Financial aid for tuition

› for salaried employees (full or part time): via their employers’ continuing education programs.
› for the unemployed: instructions available from the local funds or Pôle emploi.
› for RMI beneficiaries: via authorities in each département (Conseil Général) – contact the appropriate services for further information.
If you are eligible for such financial assistance, only the enrolment fee remains at your expense, that is in the amount of 174 €.

Scholarships

The Association des Amis de Royaumont grants scholarships to singers born after the 1st January 1984 and instrumentalists born after 1st January 1987 who do not yet have a regular professional activity.
This grant is made during Board meetings of the Association on the basis of a portfolio (resume, letter of motivation).
If you are eligible for financial aid from the Association des amis de Royaumont, a total amount of 174 € remains at your expense.

For participants who cannot qualify for any other financial aid, the Foundation grants scholarship stipends on request and based on a portfolio.
If you are eligible for this scholarship from the Association des amis de Royaumont, a total amount of 544 € remains at your expense.