Compagnie La Tempête: Obsession

Obsession, in all its enveloping and all-encompassing forms, is explored by La Tempête in this towering performance of light, music and movement.

La Tempête and its founder Simon-Pierre Bestion are a vocal and instrumental ensemble driven to explore highly personal and deeply committed works. Their latest venture explores obsession in its manifold forms - from driving force, to hallucinatory experience, to repetitive gesture - through the music of great contemporary figures Arvo Pärt, Jehan Alain and Philip Glass.

Both musical and visual, this beautifully-staged performance will transform the Barbican stage into an ever-changing scene of towers of light, movement and texture. Enveloping audiences visually and aurally in a spectacular examination of the physical and immediate experience of sound, this is a tribute to obsession through transformation.

Performers

Compagnie La Tempête
Simon-Pierre Bestion concept, musical direction and staging
Éloïse Magat musical direction assistant
Chloé Bensahel set design
Clara Daguin costumes
Jonathan Tanant creative engineer
Florian Delattre lighting
Annabelle Bayet, Véronique Housseau, Lucie Minauder, Amélie Raison sopranos
Clotilde Cantau, Nicolas Kuntzelmann, Parvati Maeder, Aline Quentin Altos
Romain Bazola, Fabrice Foison, Léo Guillou-Kérédan, Marco van Baaren Tenors
Bertrand Duby, Imanol Iraola, Matthieu Le Levreur, Maxime Saïu Basses

Programme

Arvo Pärt Miserere
Philip Glass (orch. Simon-Pierre Bestion) Selections from 1000 Airplanes on the Roof:
1. 1000 Airplanes on the Roof 5. Screens of Memory 8. Return to the Hive9. Three Truths 10. The Encounter
Arvo Pärt Excerpts from Triodion: Ode 1 “O Jesus the Son of God, Have Mercy upon Us”, Ode 3 “O Holy Saint Nicholas, Pray to God for Us”
Jehan Alain (orch. Simon-Pierre Bestion) Trois Danses:I. Joies - II. Deuil - III. Luttes