Schedule of events - Opéra de Lille

To open the concert season in the Grand Foyer, we welcome the dissonArt ensemble from Thessaloniki, brilliant pioneers of new sound worlds. A selection of solo works showcases the virtuosity of each musician, in a program where the introspection of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites resonates with the explorations of today’s composers. At the heart of the concert lies George Crumb’s piece for an unusual quartet—flute, clarinet, violin, and piano—employing extended techniques to unfold a rich, diaphanous sonic texture. In a cycle of eleven miniatures, his sensual and poetic writing seeks to awaken distant memories, capture the ephemeral, and prolong the glow of what is already fading.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Cello Suite No. 3 in C major: Prelude

Niels Rønsholdt
Archives of Emotions and Experiences, Book 1 “Birds” (Nos. 2, 4, and 9), for solo piano

George Crumb
Eleven Echoes of Autumn, for flute, clarinet, violin, and piano

Beat Furrer
Melodie, for solo flute

Johann Sebastian Bach
Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor: Sarabande, Gavottes I & II

Let the music carry you into the night.
In the darkness, between wakefulness and half-sleep, familiar landmarks dissolve and sensations grow sharper. Comfortably lying down, immerse yourself in three successive concerts — choose to experience just one, two, or all three!

Boris Vian’s literary world borrows from Surrealism a flair for verbal fantasy — and L’Écume des jours is no exception. For the musicians of Ensemble dissonArt, this playful defiance of conventions finds an echo in contemporary composers, themselves in search of singular languages.

The evening opens with an invitation into the contemplative universe of the American composer Morton Feldman. His Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello brings together the classic forces of chamber music, but in a deeply personal approach. The music unfolds slowly, in a constant pianissimo, through delicate textures, subtle harmonic shades, and gentle rhythmic shifts, creating an atmosphere of profound meditation.

Morton Feldman
Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello (1987)
Duration: 1h

The evening consists of three concerts in succession (9:00 pm, 10:45 pm, 12:30 am). Tickets may be booked for the full evening, or for one or two concerts only.

Let the music draw you into the night.
In the darkness, between wakefulness and half-sleep, familiar bearings waver and sensations intensify. Comfortably lying down, experience three successive concerts — whether you choose one, two, or all three!

The second concert explores sonic languages as contrasting as they are unexpected, interwoven with excerpts from Johann Sebastian Bach’s celebrated Suites. The poetic breath of Edison Denisov’s solo clarinet is followed by the theatrical dialogue of Beat Furrer’s flute and double bass, while Georges Aperghis lends the double bass an almost human whisper. With an amplified instrumental ensemble, Niels Rønsholdt unfolds a strange tale, where mystery is tinged with unease. His fellow Dane, Christian Winther Christensen, invents a “true-false” night music — without moonlight or Romanticism, but full of irony. Echoing the musicians’ play, Simon Stockhausen threads a connection between the works through live electronics.

Full programme

Duration: 1h

The evening consists of three concerts in succession (9:00 pm, 10:45 pm, 12:30 am). Tickets may be booked for the entire evening, or for just one or two concerts.

Let the music carry you into the night.
In the darkness, between wakefulness and half-sleep, familiar bearings shift and sensations intensify. Comfortably lying down, you are invited to experience three successive concerts — whether you choose one, two, or all three!

Around midnight, Simon Stockhausen leads us into his own soundscapes, where space becomes sensation and sound turns into immersion. Immersed early on in the avant-garde world of his father, Karlheinz Stockhausen, he later explored jazz and improvisation alongside his brother Markus, while also composing for ensembles, orchestras, and cinema. Today, he devotes himself to atmospheric electronic music, blending sampling, digital transformation of acoustic sounds, and spatialization.

Electronic music composed and performed by Simon Stockhausen

Duration: 1h

The evening consists of three concerts in succession (9:00 pm, 10:45 pm, 12:30 am). Tickets may be booked for the entire evening, or for just one or two concerts.

From Mozart to Denisov, the violin and piano transcend eras and styles through their sheer virtuosity. For this tribute to the composer of Froth on the Daydream, we are honored to welcome his grandson, Fedor Rudin. Born in Moscow in 1992, raised in Paris, and a former member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, he is today one of the most captivating violinists of his generation. At his side, another virtuoso and longtime musical partner: pianist Boris Kusnezov.

Edison Denisov
Three Pieces for Violin and Piano (1958)
Improvisation – Adagio – Dance

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata for Violin and Piano

Edison Denisov
Sonata for Violin and Piano (1963)
Allegro moderato – Largo – Vivace

Franz Schubert
Rondo Brillant in B minor, for Violin and Piano, D 895, Op. 70 (1826)

With
Fedor Rudin, violin
Boris Kusnezov, piano

DURATION: 1h

The clarinet and piano have long enjoyed a perfect musical partnership. Yet it was above all in the 20th century that the duo truly inspired composers—perhaps thanks to the development of new playing techniques. At the same time, the clarinet ventured into an extraordinary variety of musical worlds: beyond the concert hall, it could be heard in klezmer ensembles, jazz clubs, and military bands alike. This spirit of eclecticism is celebrated here by Northern French clarinetist Lilian Lefebvre, alongside his longtime musical partner Vincent Martinet, winner of the international Les Étoiles du Piano competition in Roubaix in 2021. Thus, while Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata flirts with jazz, Francis Poulenc’s combines with elegance the colors of Romanticism, Neoclassicism, and Modernism. In Bohuslav Martinů, music bears the imprint of his journey between Prague, Paris, and New York: the Sonatina he composed late in life subtly intertwines Debussy’s impressionist hues with polka rhythms and jazz syncopations.

Leonard Bernstein
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1942)

George Gershwin
Three Preludes for Piano (1926)

Ernest Chausson
Andante and Allegro for Clarinet and Piano (1881)

Francis Poulenc
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, FP 164 (1962)

Bohuslav Martinů
Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano (1956)

Performers
Lilian Lefebvre, clarinet
Vincent Martinet, piano

In partnership with Les Étoiles du Piano

DURATION: 1h

Soprano Agathe Peyrat and accordionist Pierre Cussac delight in journeying across musical horizons, from the grand stages of opera houses to the vibrant worlds of jazz festivals. At the hour of siesta, they summon the night—along with its stars, its dreams, and its mysteries.

From the divine tenderness of Henry Purcell to the melancholy introspection of Paolo Conte, the night casts its light on the most contrasting inner landscapes. It becomes a lover’s reverie in Claude Debussy’s Beau soir, a danse macabre in Camille Saint-Saëns, or a disenchanted wandering in the words of Boris Vian. It stirs the sensual memories of a pearl fisherman in Georges Bizet, reveals the gentle lyricism of Maurice Yvain, and awakens the radiant fantasy of Charles Trenet.

Thus unfolds a concert shaped like a constellation of eras and styles. Take your seat beneath the sky of the Grand Foyer, and let yourself be enveloped by fifty shades of night…

Opera arias by
Henry Purcell, Jean-Philippe Rameau,
Léo Delibes, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini

Songs by
Frederic Weatherly, Maurice Yvain,
Charles Trenet, Boris Vian, Paolo Conte, etc.

Agathe Peyrat – voice & ukulele
Pierre Cussac – accordion & voice

DURATION: 45mn