KRISTIAN FREDRIC
Metteur en scène / Auteur / Librettiste/ Scénographe
Artistic director/ Author/ Librettist / Scenography
Opera Librettos
LIVRET QUAI OUEST
opera seria
Writing of Opera Librettos - Régis Campo
Language: French
Completion Date: 2014
Note: Opera based on Quai Ouest by Bernard-Marie Koltès.
Libretto by Kristian Frédric and Florence Doublet.
Commissioned by the Opéra National du Rhin, Staatstheater Nürnberg, and the French government. Premiered at the Opéra National du Rhin on September 27, 2014.
Performed by Paul Gay, Mireille Delunsch, Marie-Ange Todorovitch, and others, with the Choir of the Opéra National du Rhin and the Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marcus Bosch.
Composition period: 2013-2014
Duration: 1h 40min
Notes on the Libretto
Florence Doublet and Kristian Frédric
For the first time, one of Bernard-Marie Koltès’ major plays was adapted into an opera. As librettists and deep admirers of Koltès’ work, we saw this as a colossal challenge. How could we remove anything from his intricately crafted, highly musical language? What could be omitted from this dense text without losing the thread of the story or diminishing the immense poetry in each character’s monologues?
We worked directly from the original text, analyzing every stage direction, every word, constantly questioning what was essential: how to tell the same story while preserving its structure, keeping as much of Koltès’ language as possible, and simultaneously adapting it to the dramaturgy of opera and the technical possibilities of music and singing.
This was a collaborative process between the two of us, with ongoing, constructive discussions with composer Régis Campo throughout. This approach allowed us, for example, to retain or modify key repetitions from the original text, transform long monologues into arias, or create vocal ensembles for certain scenes without betraying the spirit of the play. This three-way collaboration ensured that the text and music were not developed separately but as a cohesive whole.
FANDO ET LIS LIBRETTO
Commissioned by the Opéra de Saint-Étienne
World Premiere
Libretto by Kristian Frédric – In collaboration with Jean-Claude Vian
Based on the eponymous work by Fernando Arrabal
After my contribution to the opera libretto of Quai Ouest, based on Bernard-Marie Koltès' play, for the Opéra National du Rhin and the Staatstheater Nürnberg (2014), I couldn't help but wonder which other playwright’s writing could serve as the foundation for a new contemporary opera. Fernando Arrabal immediately came to mind—especially his play Fando and Lis. This touching yet cruel love story depicts a devastated world where its characters desperately attempt to reach a mythical city: Tar.
I reached out again to this master of Théâtre Panique and shared my idea with him. In his apartment, surrounded by numerous paintings and even a garrote chair, he adjusted one of his two pairs of glasses (one resting on his eyes, the other on his forehead), straightened up on his bench, and said: "Oh really? You think so? That would be a wonderful idea; I would be truly delighted." And so, we began to dream!
Then, Jean-Louis Pichon and the entire team at the Opéra de Saint-Étienne embraced the idea. And so, we found ourselves immersed in the raw material of this language magician’s words and thoughts, striving to extract a substance ready to be sculpted by the composer. In a way, Jean-Claude and I became ferrymen across the Acheron.
ALIÉNOR LIBRETTO
Commissioned by the Opéra de Limoges
World Premiere
Libretto by Alain Voirpy and Kristian Frédric
"The action unfolds at the crossroads of multiple temporal fractures, illustrating the ongoing struggle of women to defend their rightful freedoms: Aliénor, in the Middle Ages, secluded in a castle in England, alone, facing her past, her demons, her guilt, but also the frustrations of a queen, a mother, and a Christian. Aliénor again, today, ‘imprisoned’ in a museum in the Middle East—a Western mirage in a world consumed by fanaticism and obscurantism. And finally, Aliénor in New York, contemplating the outcome of eight centuries of relentless battles: a freedom acknowledged, yet still to be won, in a world that has forgotten too much of its past to convincingly claim sincerity today."
In this deliberately lyrical opera, there is no restraint, no politically correct detachment, but rather a wholehearted commitment to a woman who simply wants to be who she is, rather than what the world dictates she should be.