What is the origin of the production?
In 1993, the Royaumont Foundation in France invited me to work on this score with the soprano Mishiko Hyrayama, the favoured performer of Giacinto Scelsi. She put her trust in me, offering me the complete manuscript score of the work. After this and following my meeting with Scelsi, I made a CD recording of certain excerpts in 1993. Two years later I wanted to make a staged conception of it, which became the Chants Libres solo show created in 1995.
Chants du Capricorne (excerpts)
What musical particularities are found in the piece?
Chants du Capricorne is a very difficult piece for the performer. No text to help with memorization (only created sounds), quarter tones, virtuosity of sounds, vocal acrobatics, and a capella 3/4 of the time, etc. This work highlights the great freedom of Giacinto Scelsi’s writing, a freedom that commands respect and admiration from the international musical milieu.
In what way did Chants du Capricorne mark a turning point?
The demanding performance of Chants du Capricorne was a turning point for me, not only because of the critical success, but because it reinforced in a major way my interest for creation conception and stage direction. By making use of my performance craft, I became a tool of experience.