The Night of the Odysseys – Festival d’Avignon

The Night of the Odysseys Festival d’Avignon 2019.

21, 22 et 23 of July 2019 – Chartreuse Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon.

“What does the Mediterranean mean to me? I saw myself facing the elements: the sea, the sun, the wind, the storm. I realised how those places that inspire me so intensely are never silent. The idea for a soundtrack was born.” Alone onstage, cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton struggles against the elements: a deluge rages around her… A Night of odysseys is a new way of reinventing the stage by bringing together classical and traditional music and a soundtrack made of voices recorded during many encounters with groups of women, secondary school students, people living in exile, and artists. The audience is invited to a moving aural experience in which the noises of the world multiply thanks to an ingenious installation. Bach can be heard among the noise of motors; the waves of the Mediterranean smash against the stage; the audience is carried away on adventures that slowly paint the portrait of mankind as forever travelling, making each and every one of us a Ulysses looking for wonders or driven by the simple desire of coming back to his or her loved ones.

The Night of the Odysseys is a concert conceived as a journey for cello and
soundtrack accompaniment. The voice of my cello confronts the wind, waves, storms
and the chaos of the world.

 

Photos © RBG © Christophe Raynaud de Lage