Opera

Thierry Escaich's Claude

Olivier Py (stage director), Jérémie Rhorer (conductor) – With Jean-Sébastien Bou (Claude), Jean-Philippe Lafont (The Director), Rodrigo Ferreira (Albin)...

Live
Certain chapters are not available.
Thank you for your understanding.

Cast

Olivier Py — Stage director

Pierre-André Weitz — Stage sets and costumes

Bertrand Killy — Lighting

Daniel Izz — Choreographer

Jean-Sébastien Bou — Claude

Jean-Philippe Lafont — The Director

Laurent Alvaro — The Entrepreneur/The Inspector General

Rodrigo Ferreira — Albin

Laurent Alvaro — The Entrepreneur/The Inspector General

Rémy Mathieu — First Person/First Inspector

Philip Sheffield — Second Person/Second Inspector

Loleh Pottier — The Little Girl

Anaël Chevallier — The Echoing Voice

Yannick Berne — First Prisoner

Paolo Stupenengo — Second Prisoner

Jean Vendassi — Third Prisoner

David Sanchez — Serra, The Lawyer

Program notes

French contemporary composer Thierry Escaich and French essayist, politician, and now librettist Robert Badinter transform Victor Hugo’s short story Claude Gueux into an operatic call for human dignity in the 21st century.  

Victor Hugo’s 1834 Claude Gueux explores themes of social justice that would later become the backbone of his landmark novel Les Misérables. The work narrates the story of Claude Gueux, a poor uneducated man who steals, is imprisoned for his crime, and, through an unfortunate series of events, is sentenced to death and executed. Hugo accompanied the work with an epilogue criticizing a French society that condemns the disproportionate use of punishment for the crimes of the poor and helpless. In their 2013 opera, Escaich and Badinter transplant the dark fable into the modern day in this production that features a gripping staging by Olivier Py and accomplished performances by Jean-Sébastien Bou as Claude and Rodrigo Ferreira as his best friend Albin.

Photo: © Stofleth

A closer look: featured composers

Appears in

More info