MADALENA
A joyful work of reappropriation of a repressed branch of history…
The one of Madalena who, like the Ephesus’ Artemis, remains one of the tutelary and timeless figures of the Phocaean City.
The adaptation of the cantilena to Sancta Maria Magdalena by Manu Théron was a challenge. This archaic chant, reviving popular devotion, had to be allowed to unfurl freely, emancipated from the uniformity of the catholic dogma which had banned it for a time. Entrusted to a choir of twenty-three women (whereas La Cantinella was once performed by canons of Marseille cathedral), Madalena is a rare and exciting celebration of womanhood and of the pleasure of singing.
Magnified by the solar and unique spirituality of this Occitan choir, the music of Madalena is consistent with a remarkable dynamics, specific to the popular spiritual music from the Mediterranean. Alternating repetition, scansion and exchanges between choir and solo voices, the new work, full of majesty and modernity, is first of all an ode to life, to emancipation and the reunion of earthly pleasures and divine love.
Production: La Compagnie du Lamparo