PYGMALION
Two melologues on the myth of Pygmalion
Visual concept and graphic novel by Sandrine Revel
Winner of the Artemisia Prize 2016
Claire GIBAULT
PARIS MOZART ORCHESTRA
Pygmalion (1779)
Georg Benda | Rousseau
Pygmalion (2018)
Philippe Hersant | Goethe
with narrators Natalie Dessay and Eric Genovese (Comédie-Française)
First performance at the Philharmonie de Paris | 15 June 2018
www.parismozartorchestra.com
Presentation
At the end of the 18th century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau fashioned a revolutionary new
genre with his Pygmalion. Treating text and music as equals for the first time, the
mélologue proved to be a perfect vehicle for the riot of emotions raging at the heart of
the nascent Sturm und Drang movement, and the Bohemian composer Georg Benda
established the model for the staged mélologue in 1779 with a superb Pygmalion based
on Rousseau’s original text.
In a letter to his father, Mozart wrote: “I’ve seen Benda’s Medea; he also wrote Ariadne auf Naxos, and I love both
works so much that I’m bringing them with me. The words aren’t sung, you know – they’re declaimed, and the
music is like a kind of recitative on its own. Sometimes the words are spoken overt the music, which makes a
marvellous effect. Imagine how happy I am now to have found a way to do something I’ve always wanted. Do you
know what I think ? We should treat most operatic recitatives in this way, and only occasionally – when the words
can be better expressed musically – should the recitatives be sung.“
Reflecting, contextualising and complementing the Rousseau/Benda innovations, the PMO
has chosen to explore the contemporary resonances of the Pygmalion myth by
commissioning a new mélologue from Philippe Hersant - a setting of the amusingly erotic
text of Goethe’s intriguingly profound ballade-romance.
This programme has inspired a graphic novel by Sandrine Revel which will be published in June 2018.
Images taken from the novel will be projected during the concert
Sandrine Revel illustrator
Sandrine Revel is a prolific French creator of graphic novels. Born in 1969, she studied at the
École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux. In 2001, she won an award for her work for young readers
at the prestigious Angoulême International Comics Festival. She has published more than ten
graphic novels in France as well as a successful line of Children’s comics. Glenn Gould won her
the French Artémisia award which recognizes female comics creators. She has also published
works in the press for Sud Ouest and Milan Presse. She had an exhibit of paintings about
childhood in Paris and Bordeaux in 2012 and 2016.
"Thoughtful and wonderfully put together, worth picking up for every reader - Gould fan or not." Vue Weekly
"Striking work, indeed!" Booklist
"Impassioned, enchanting and marvellously moving, this enigmatic engagement […] is a fabulous treat for lovers of
comics and music and will stay for all time in your head like a favourite tune." Now Read This!
"Revel's stunning artwork makes this book, timed to commemorate what would have been Gould's 85 th birthday, a
worthy new biography."Publishers Weekly
Reviews of Glenn Gould a life off tempo (2016)
Contact
Paris Mozart Orchestra | Anaïs Smart General Manager
[email protected] | +33 6 43 24 61 79
www.parismozartorchestra.com