Pending the opening of his exhibition on the Galerie L’Actuelle, the Guido Molinari Foundation presents, on Thursday February 25, 2016 at 8pm, an evening devoted to the poetic work of Claude Gauvreau, entitled Poèmes de détention et quelques “contres”. The gallery’s inaugural exhibition, in May 1955, brought together works by twenty young painters for a public performance of Gauvreau’s theatrical work.
The show, conceived and directed by versatile artist André Pappathomas, is a setting in voice and music of excerpts from the work of Gauvreau, an outstanding poet, playwright and polemicist, whose complex work is marked by excess and freedom, but also by cruelty and pain, like that of Antonin Artaud. Pappathomas, the composer and director who plays electric bass, “invented instruments” and his own voice, is accompanied by cellist Rachel Burman and mezzo-soprano Anne Julien. For good measure, and as a reminder of the stature of the explored poet, the Fondation will also present a montage of excerpts (some previously unseen) from Gauvreau’s participation in La Nuit de la poésie 1970, a film by Jean-Claude Labrecque and Jean-Pierre Masse, produced by the NFB.
POÈMES DE DÉTENTION ET QUELQUES “CONTRES”
Evening program
ASPIRATION (Poèmes de détention) Invented instruments and interpretation: André Pappathomas
LA POTERNE DU BLAIREAU (Poèmes de détention) Composition for voice, cello and bass: André Pappathomas
ORGIE ROSE (Poèmes de détention) Composition and cello: Rachel Burman
RECUL (Poèmes de détention) DRIMANANCE SUR LES DALLES (Étal mixte) Text and cello
SIX EXTRACTS (Les boucliers mégalomanes, Étal mixte, Brochuges) Improvised pieces for voice and cello
MIRAGE POREUX / FIXITÉ DE PHÉNIX (Detention poems)
MÉCANISME D’ENFANT (Brochuges) Text and music box
FLORTANDRE / FINI URBE (Entrailles, Brochuges) Text and invented instrument
3ième PORTE Composition for voice, cello and bass: André Pappathomas
LES ÉPAVES JOUENT DU COUDE/ PROTESTATION (Poèmes de détention) Composition for cello and bass: Burman / Pappathomas
CONTRE LES CONTRES (Poèmes de détention) Composition for voice, cello and bass: André Pappathomas
KLOCCA VI Composition for voice, cello and bass: André Pappathomas
AUTOMATISMES POUR LA RADIO 2 voices
BEAUTÉ BAROQUE Extract, adapted for voice and cello
JAPPEMENTS À LA LUNE # 7, 2 et 3 / LEDD LONKK (Poèmes de détention, Jappements à la lune, Brochuges) Composition for cello and bass: Burman / Pappathomas
INSTRUMENTS INVENTÉS / À BÂ Composition for voice and cello: Rachel Burman
L’IMPOSSIBLE M’ATTEND (Megalomaniac Shields)
LE VIN MORILLON (Poèmes de détention) Composition for voice, cello and bass: André Pappathomas
Vocals: Anne Julien, mezzo-soprano
Cello: Rachel Burman
Invented instruments, electric bass, conception, text research and direction: André Pappathomas
