Interview with Alain Thibault, composer of the first Chants Libres production Ne blâmez jamais les bédouins

What convinced you to be a part of the opera Ne blâmez jamais les bédouins?
Alain Thibault: Having generally worked in electronics, I was interested in the challenge of doing without in order to work solely with Pauline Vaillancourt’s voice.

What exactly were the concerns for an a cappella opera?
I wasn’t able to test or simulate what I was writing, so the final result only became clear at the rehearsals and performances. It was necessary to have total confidence in the performer’s ability to go further than just the notes.

What did you think of the final result?
I was so impressed by the tour de force required to perform all the different characters, with the accents, intonations and nuances that offered substance and so compensated for the lack of instruments.

Interview at the Premiere (In French)
Composer pour la voix, c’est écrire pour l’instrument le plus intéressant, le plus complexe.
– Guylaine Massoutre, Revue JEU, 1991 Read more.