Les Fables de La Fontaine
An original combination of the poetry of La Fontaine and the music of Couperin
Jean-Denis Monory – direction, recitation baroque gesture (France)
Armelle Roux – harpsichord (France)
Friday 20. 7. 2007, 19:30 hod.
Theatre ABC, Vodičkova 28, Praha 1
La Fontaine was the greatest musician among poets and Couperin the greatest poet among musicians. (Pierre Citron)
The poetic delivery, baroque gesture, period costumes and candlelight intensified the atmosphere of the court of Louis XIV in a brilliant fusion of the fables of La Fontaine and the music of Couperin. Their lives reveal surprising coincidences and their art similarities that cannot be overlooked. At a time when genres were kept strictly apart, their music and poetry mingle.
The Fables were La Fontaine’s life’s work. The author left behind a collection which is the result of increasing maturity, the fruits of reflection and observation, but also a font of folk wisdom: his verse became his legacy and often even proverbs! François Couperin, nicknamed ‘the great’, raised the art of harpsichord playing to its very zenith. His music contains real portraits and criticism of the period, as is suggested by the headings from his collection ‘Les Folies Françaises’: Virginity, Old Suitors and Aged Cash, Shame ...
