David et Jonathas

How can the madness of one man lead to the greatest slaughter? What about the innocent sacrificed on the altar of tyrants thirsty for conquest and power?

Three hundred years after its creation, Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s opera retains intact its propensity to denounce the horrors of war. Jean Bellorini goes beyond the original plot – the friendship between David and Jonathas undermined by a fratricidal war, with David having to fight Saul, Jonathas’ father – to question power by focusing on the figure of King Saul, devastated by the death of his son and overwhelmed by his own murderous acts. On stage, he invites the humble people decimated by war to join him in a motley and colourful procession. The echoes of the religious, political and ethnic conflicts that are still engulfing the world today are plain for all to see. With the help of writer Wilfried N’Sondé, Jean Bellorini revives the atypical, hybrid character of the work, halfway between theatre and opera. As for Sébastien Daucé, he returns to his favourite composer, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, whose expressive power he knows how to magnify. Convinced by the modernity of the Baroque repertoire, the trio brings out all the emotional intensity of the work.

Production: Théâtre de Caen. Main co-production: Ensemble Correspondances.
Coproduction: Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Opéra National de Lorraine; Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; Opéra de Lille; Théâtre National Populaire de Villeurbanne.
With the support of ADEME.