Tragedie
scored for violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, trombone and electronics
Ouverture and Intermezzo's
duration 75 minutes
The Ouverture and Intermezzi draw on original material by Georges Bizet, radically deconstructed and reshaped into a contemporary sound world. Recognizable fragments surface only to dissolve again, as if memory itself were being taken apart and reassembled. What once functioned as narrative propulsion becomes now reflection.
The Intermezzi, in particular, adopt a panoptic perspective on the story. They step back from the action, creating moments of distance and suspended time in which the unfolding drama is observed rather than driven forward. From this elevated vantage point, the audience is invited to contemplate the mechanisms of desire, power, and inevitability at work beneath the surface.
Stage Director: Stefaan Degandt
Conductor: Michiel Delanghe
Coach: Hein Boterberg
Visual Artist: Jasmien Adam
Cast: students of International Opera Academy
Ensemble: deCompagnie
Tragedie was commissioned by International Opera Academy and was first performed by deCompagnie on September 28 2020 at deBijloke, Gent (Belgium). More info: https://ioacademy.be/event/tragedie-degand-omarmt-carmen/
Cutting Edge: Coppens modeled a series of clearly arranged arias from the almost one and a half century old relic, and he dragged Bizet into the 21st century.
How? With the synthesizer, as a symbol of a digital revolution that – it is hard to deny – has completely shaken up the soundscape of the past fifty years. Coppens, however, understands the art of dosing: he allows the synths to blend organically into the chamber music palette of deCompagnie, an ensemble that he helped to build up and which today can be counted among the top of the Belgian music scene. Sporadically, the composer-arranger opens up all the stops with penetrating, lingering tones, with an effect that is as refreshing as it is disruptive for the listener. Moreover, whenever Coppens sees the opportunity, he posits interludes that completely elude the discourse of Bizet's score. Not to showcase itself, but from the philosophy that tradition can only live on if it resonates with what lives in the here and now among the audience present.