Les Tuches Quatre

Les Illuminations was premiered by Sophie Wyss in 1939, but, as with much of Britten's work, has been colonised since by tenors. Here, it is a joy to hear Felicity Lott singing a soprano version. Her voice is in the full bloom of youth, and she sings with a thrilling freshness and verve, entirely in keeping with the mood of excitement. There are many delicious moments – how wittily she confides "Des drôles trés solides" in Parade, and explodes with an ecstatic "J'ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage !" echoing the sole phrase in the opening fanfare, but with a completely different tone. When the same phrase appears again, in Interlude, she sings it in yet another way, echoing the instrumental colouring around it.

A Bouzolles, tout le monde connaît la famille Tuche. Jeff, Cathy et leurs trois enfants vivent du système D. Respectueuse de la philosophie Tuche, « l'homme n'est pas fait pour travailler », toute la famille s'emploie à être heureuse malgré le cruel manque de revenus.Leurs vies étaient toutes tracées. Ils seraient toujours pauvres, mais heureux. Mais un bouleversement va mettre en péril ce fragile équilibre. Les Tuche vont devenir riches, très riches. 100 millions d'euros gagnés à « L'Euroloterie » vont tout changer.Quitte à changer de vie, autant changer de lieu. Quoi de plus logique pour les Tuche que d'aller vivre à Monaco, là où Cathy a toujours rêvé d'habiter.

In 1994, Messe un jour ordinary intersected the vehement and shattering words of the mass with those, individual and derisory, of Laurence, a young drug addict who appeared in a documentary by Jean-Michel Carré. The meeting with the Métaboles choir and the Multilateral Ensemble, both conducted by Léo Warynski, persuaded its composer, Bernard Cavanna, to rewrite this iconoclastic mass to reinforce the presence of the voice and the choir.

Les éléments invite you to a winter evening, a musical journey from the Middle Ages to the present day where songs and poems celebrate winter, its festivals and its coldness, in the intimacy of the a cappella choir. The great composers of the repertoire rub shoulders with new compositions, arrangements of traditional Christmas songs from the provinces of France specially commissioned for this programme. Best enjoyed by the fireside!