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FULL TO BE SUNG (Pascal Dusapin) Paris 2026 Elise Chauvin, Jenny Daviet, Norma Nahoun
STREAM IT from medicitv
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: TO BE SUNG
- Composer: Dusapin Pascal
- Libretto:
- Venue & Opera Company: Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
- Recorded: February 4, 2026
- Type: Concert Semi-staged
- Singers: Elise Chauvin, Jenny Daviet, Norma Nahoun
- Conductor: Maxime Pascal
- Orchestra: With Le Balcon
- Stage Director:
- Stage Designer: Pharrell Williams
- Costume Designer: Pharrell Williams
- Lighting Designer: Pharrell Williams
Information about the Recording
- Format: DVD
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, frsubs
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
In Pascal Dusapin’s chamber opera To Be Sung, the composer forsakes all dramaturgy and action to instead nurture “prose of pure imagination” vocalised by three sopranos alongside a narrator, the voices heightened by instrumental textures and an electroacoustic component.
“Of the ten operas that Pascal Dusapin has composed, the most singular is undoubtedly To Be Sung. Its chamber-music framework and libretto borrowed from American author Gertrude Stein render the work and its genesis unique, haunting and cyclical. Created in 1994, this third opera replaces the idea of a stage with performance plasticity. Here, there are no roles, no protagonists pursuing a plot that could be described or summarised. In the abstract space of the “Large and lofty room”—the first four words spoken—three voices move, intertwining and separating, unifying and diverging, emphasising individuality or similarities. To Be Sung is opera as a high-wire act, virtuosity with neither beginning nor end. It is a lyrical moment of pure sensuality that engrosses the listener’s imagination and demands their complete surrender.”
Antoine Gindt, November 2025