Voces Caelestes
direction Sergio Fontão
Concertino Florian Deuter
La Folie Ana Quintans
Le Carnaval João Fernandes
Momus Hugo Oliveira
Plutus / Mercure Fernando Guimarães
La Jeunesse Carla Caramujo
Jupiter Luis Miguel Cintra
Venus Jennifer Smith
Dancers Catarina Câmara and Pedro Ramos
Musical Director Marcos Magalhães
Stage director and movement Luca Aprea
Scenic composition Luca Aprea and Stefano Riva
Lighting Daniel Worm d'Assumpção
Makeup and costumes adaptation
Production Marcos Magalhães, Marta Araújo and Luca Aprea
Executive Production Bruno Coelho
Quoting Marcos Magalhães, "our desire is to bring the joy of dance and movement and by this way enrich our musical and graphical language." With a close connection to dance, featuring the French operas of Louis XIV era, this work is a comédie-ballet where dance brings out the bizarre and funny moments of a love story between two surprising characters: Le Carnaval and La Folie.
"The libretto focuses its intrigue in the turbulent love between La Folie and Le Carnaval and it is a true homage to the inevitability of pain in love. But maybe for the times we are in and beyond its immediate intrigue, this work reveals the bitter tone of an apology for eternal youth filled by ageless characters. A place without time, not so much from an eternal immaturity in a “poetical“ sense but in the illusion of an immobile location, suspended and without consequences. "
Luca Aprea
Dance in opera
Since the project began there was the desire to offer dance a different role from the one present in eighteenth century operas: "we did not want to use the baroque dance code, nor wanted ballet to be just a moment to pause or play. In this production dance will contaminate various parts of the opera: choir, drama and even dance moments. ", director Luca Aprea said. The so-called ballet d'action will be played by the chorus in a record close to pantomime and inspired by the different dancing music ambiance to "comment" or "anticipate" moments of the story. In turn, dancers will be like doubles performing Le Carnaval and La Folie expressing in the form of dance the relationship between these two characters.
The challenge of comédie-ballet
The composer André Cardinal Destouches, Musketeer of the court of Louis XIV and Lully's follower, created what would be considered the first comédie-ballet, inspired by the work of Erasmus of Rotterdam The Praise of Folly. For Marcos Magalhães the choice of this work was based primarily on its strong ties with dance that also influences the comic elements of the plot. "It's a challenge playing “music for dance": the interpretation must be perfectly coordinated with the rhythms of the various dances and always conscientious of the little subtleties characteristic from French music."
Os Músicos do Tejo are supported by Câmara Municipal de Lisboa.