LES ROIS MAGES IN MONTE CARLO

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE THREE WISE MEN

In 1980, Michel Tournier published a sixth novel that would unsettle more than one critic: in Gaspard, Melchior et Balthazar, the writer–traveler revisits the biblical episode of the Nativity by making the Three Wise Men the protagonists of the story. Moreover, Tournier fancifully adds a fourth companion of his own invention, the Hindu prince Taor, recognizable by his gluttony (he himself is in search of… loukoum!) and by his habit of always arriving late. This humorous addition is not the most surprising element of a composite novel that adopts a variety of forms (children’s tale, philosophical fable, dramatic monologue, metaphysical reflection…) and multiplies into a wide range of different viewpoints: those of the Three Wise Men, of course, that of Herod, but also that of the donkey standing in the manger of Bethlehem beside the ox.

In 2017, in response to a commission from the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, the Hispano-Argentine composer Fabián Panisello and the librettist Gilles Rico took hold of this rich literary material to turn it into a singular piece of musical theatre, for mezzo-soprano, an instrumental ensemble of six musicians, and a multimedia setup. Following an intention of Michel Tournier himself, who had shortened his novel to produce an adaptation (entitled Les Rois Mages) aimed at young readers, Rico and Panisello conceived their score for an audience made up of both adults and children, focusing above all on the intelligibility of the narrative.

The libretto thus closely follows the novel’s structure in clearly delineated chapters and entrusts the storyline to a solo singer whose task is sometimes to assume the voice of one of the characters and at other times the stance of a narrator who weaves the stories together. Panisello gives the mezzo-soprano narrator a broad expressive palette, ranging from declamation to lyrical singing, including whispers and sprechgesang (speech-song). While the dramaturgical form plays with the temporality of the narrative through flashbacks and other ellipses, the musical writing is no less inventive, playing with language, syntax, pulse, and meter—sometimes stopping time in lyrical outbursts or unsettling it with contrapuntal effects, rhythmic loops, and repeated cells, all characteristic procedures of the composer’s research. This way of escaping earthly time is in perfect harmony with Tournier’s literary intent: for once they follow the comet that has appeared in the sky above them, the Three Wise Men undergo an experience that transcends their human condition and the span of their earthly existence. “Time seemed to have turned into eternity,” the donkey will say after the newborn’s arrival in his stable.

In Tournier’s novel, the comet occupies a central place and lends unsuspected dimensions to the characters’ quests. In Panisello and Rico’s work, the staging remains extremely sober, but a multimedia setup is integrated in order to push back the limits of the stage space and give it the dimensions of the universe. The use of electroacoustics (in real time or with pre-recorded elements) adds supernatural echoes and unfathomable depth to the sound effects. As for the video setup, it sends the spectator’s head into the stars: all the images serving as immersive scenery come from the Supernova Planetarium of the ESO (European Southern Observatory) and were carefully selected in collaboration with an astronomer, Mathias Jäger. On these photographs of constellations, galaxies, novae, and supernovae—which give the impression of literally following the comet—animations occasionally reveal the Three Wise Men, like illustrations straight out of a book of tales and legends. Thus, the spectator is invited to journey in a state of weightlessness alongside the characters and the musicians, “walking in step toward the comet bristling with light in the icy air.”

Tristan Labouret

Performers

Fabián Panisello, conductor

Elodie Tisserand, soprano

Gilles Rico, librettist and stage director

Sofía Salazar, flute

Antonio Lombardo, clarinet

Ema Alexeeva, violin

Michal Dmochowski, cello

Duncan Gifford, piano

Magdalena Cerezo, keyboard

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