Thursday, March 22, 2012

EVENT: Opera in Soweto


Le  Devin du Village, Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778

To commemorate the 300th anniversary of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s birth, the Durban-based Baroque 2000 ensemble will perform a concert version of “Le Devin du Village”, Intermezzo in one act composed by Rousseau in 1752. The philosoph and essayist, born in Geneva, was also a musician, and gained success with his “Devin”. It was intended as a demonstration of the superiority of the “Italian” style of opera over the French music of the time. It was performed for Louis XV at Fontainebleau and the King liked it.





The plot is a simple one: far away in the countryside, Colette and Colin, the shepherd, are in love, unbeknown to each other. Colin is afraid to be rejected in favor of a gentleman from the city. They each ask the village’s sorcerer, the “Devin” independently for help. The “Devin” soon arranges the situation so that the two lovers find to each other.


A peculiarity of the “Devin” is that Rousseau wrote the music as well as the libretto, something rather exceptional with operas. In this concert version, extensive parts of the original “Devin” are performed, excluding nevertheless some pieces and choirs.








The three characters are sung by:

Colette: Lauren Dasappa, Soprano
Colin: Warren Vernon-Driscoll, Tenor
Le Devin: Azola Mabutho, Baritone/Bass
under  the musical direction of Ralitza Cherneva.

In Switzerland and abroad, many activities are being set up to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Rousseau’s birth –and to mark the actuality of his works. The March 2012 Tour of “Le Devin du Village”, in connection with the “Fêtes de la Francophonie”, with concerts in Durban/Marianhill on 25 March, Pretoria on 28 March and Soweto on 30 March, is all part of them.

The Tour takes place thanks to the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa.


Soweto, Diepkloof Hall, 30 March, 18:00 (entrance free), tickets from Alliance française de Soweto, tel. 011 042 65 53, Soweto@alliance.org.za,

Contact: 084 4390 664 (Bheki)
E-mail bhekiradebe@yahoo.com