Debussy - Mussorgsky - Wagner - Couperin - Berlioz
Ensemble Carpe Diem
Isabelle Irène (puppeteer)
Léa Sarfati (soprano)
Sibylle Cornaton (violin)
François Duchesne (viola)
Marianne Gaiffe (cello)
Isabelle Pierre (flute/piccolo)
Jean-Pierre Arnaud (oboe/director)
This was a most unusual concert, centred around Debussy's "La Boîte à joujoux", in reduced instrumental format (the arrangement by the group's director, Jean-Pierre Arnaud), with interjections of other pieces - instrumental solos by Debussy, Wagner and Couperin to introduce the instruments, and extracts of Mussorgsky's cycle of "Nursery Songs", to set the stage for an animated interpretation of the music.
Don't imagine anything like a Punch and Judy show, or shadow-puppets, or anything in which the puppeteers are invisible. No, here the puppeteer was perfectly visible, and occasionally audible too, and was assisted by the soprano, as they manipulated an extremely ingeniously contrived box (suitably enough) which opened out into other boxes, which showed different painted faces to become sun and moon, or segments of buildings, and all sorts of other props to tell the story of the steadfast wooden soldier, the flighty ballerina and the roguish harlequin. As a show, it was really very charming indeed, and delivered with gentle wit and much affection by all concerned.
Taking a step back and considering it on purely musical grounds, it's a little less convincing, because the adaptation of the Debussy score lacked a little something, the sound not quite Debussy-ist enough. Orchestrating for such small forces was clearly going to be a challenge at the best of times, and the orchestral version of "La Boîte..." isn't by Debussy himself, but by his friend and colleague André Caplet. However, Caplet's work was outstandingly inspired, to the point that it's hard to imagine it being bettered, and Arnaud's doesn't come anywhere near that level.
As for Léa Sarfati, Mussorgsky's songs are never the best medium to judge a voice in intrinsic terms; they require too much characterisation, which she gave, though the text (in French) was a little indistinct. Still, she sounded well enough, and the evening as a whole demonstrated such originality that my musical reservations are minor considerations.
[Next: 17th August]
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