A Season in Hell

21 October 2024, 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Ted Black and Dylan Perez’s dramatic and varied programme charts the tumultuous relationship between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine that ended with Verlaine’s imprisonment for shooting his partner. Expect theatrical displays from piano and voice in Britten’s setting of Rimbaud’s Les Illuminations as well as a rare opportunity to hear songs by Josef Szulc, Jean Cras and Charles Bordes. Ted Black gave some thrilling performances for us in 2021 and is now rapidly establishing himself as a leading young tenor.

Programme

Déodat de Séverac (1872 - 1921)
Soleils couchants 'Paysages tristes'

Louis Bessières (1913 - 2011)
Le Dormeur du Val

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
2. Villes from Les Illuminations

André Caplet (1878 - 1925)
Green (1902) L60

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
3a. Phrase from Les Illuminations
3b. Antique from Les Illuminations

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)
Le jet d'eau (1889) from Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire

Josef Szulc (1875 - 1956)
Clair de lune

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
7. Being beauteous

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
Je nommerai ton front FP 98 from Miroirs brûlants

Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950)
Mon rêve familier

Jean Cras (1879 - 1932)
Recueillement
Sagesse

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
8. Parade from Les Illuminations

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
Voyage from Calligrammes

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)
La mort des amants (1887) from Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
9. Départ from Les Illuminations

Notes on the Programme

This recital explores the turbulent relationship of two gigantic figures of French poetry: Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud. Within the framework of the chapters of Rimbaud’s epic poem, Une saison en enfer, we can see the trajectory of their affair that ultimately ends in solitude, addiction, and violence.

INTRODUCTION - “Once, if my memory serves me well…” - the beginning of the affair, an already damned experience.

MAUVAIS SANG - Rimbaud and Verlaine travel to London and experience bliss of new love and sexual experiences.

NUIT DE L’ENFER - Desire and seduction lead the couple to their own fate.

DÉLIRES I : VIERGE FOLLE - L’ÉPOUX INFERNAL - Rimbaud feels enslaved by Verlaine, lured and deceived by him with false promises of love and desire.

DÉLIRES II : ALCHIMIE DU VERBE - Rimbaud is hopeful that he can give Verlaine all that is needed for their relationship to thrive.

L’IMPOSSIBLE - The couple try to escape their doomed relationship but this ends up with Verlaine shooting Rimbaud in a drug fuelled state.

MATIN - The damage is done and the couple part ways. Rimbaud ends up in self-induced exile and Verlaine sinks deeper into alcoholism.

ADIEU - Now able to look back and see the truth of their relationship, the couple remember their experiences and close this chapter of their lives in separation and dire circumstances.