Countertenor Yann Golgevit is working on a creation in the form of an Occitan musical fresco from the 12th century to the present day. In Catalan, Arabic, Occitan, Spanish, Calo or Hebrew, the multi-influenced repertoire of “Paratge” promises to be colorful and emotional.
It is a territorial play in the making since the end of the summer, but which has always been on his mind and somewhat calms his impatience and desires for other places. And which could be exported everywhere else, where there is no tolerance, where war is raging.
Through “Paratge”, Yann Golgevit, countertenor with the rare (and crazy) voice of Farinelli “rock star of the 18th century”develops an Occitan musical fresco in which he performs a real show “a humanist who can travel around the world”.
The use of mapping, a technique that projects images onto volumes playing with their relief, will have an advantage as it can be adapted to spaces offered by performance venues and offer a stunning immersive experience to the public.
Magic and enchantment will be fundamental to conveying the main social themes of equality, inclusion and acceptance of others. “Paratge” means sharing, equality, living together, “convivence in Occitan”summarized by Yann Golgevit.
A musical journey through eight centuries
Co-directed by Yann Golgevit with Richard Navarro on stage, Guy Bertrand on arrangements and Lou Touchard on sound design, this musical odyssey borrows from the different communities that migrated to the Occitan region, across styles and centuries. Latins, Arabs, Jews or Roma, those who brought here their cultural baggage, create the score of this musical journey between the 12th and 20th centuries! “But I’m not making anything up, Sting, Youssou N’Dour or Elton John have already done it!”
In these times “radicalism and populism”and as “grandson of the exile”this humanist fresco is part of it “like logic” in the already long 25-year career of this protean singer, who is also an extraordinary storyteller that we love to listen to…as we do.
This creation produced by the association De bouche à bouche, which lasts a little over an hour and whose soundtrack is currently in production, will be on the schedule at the end of next year and aims to open up a field of musical possibilities, “there will be electro, samplers, on dedicated texts like those written by Simone Veil”.
“Being useful is my compass”
The viewer is invited to abandon all control over his emotions and surrender to his inner joy and faith, “unchangeable despite events. Singing is a political act, yes, it is a powerful act”underlines the countertenor, for whom feeling “useful” is not an empty word. “It’s my compass”illustrated by this traveler who feels like “passer with the obligation to defend, otherwise there is no reason to do this job”.
Returning from a five-month tour in Brazil where he sang in colleges and conservatories, close to young people amazed by his exceptional voice, “They wondered if I had a microphone in my stomach,” it is the revitalized Yann Golgevit who returns to us, filling rooms wherever he performs, as recently at the Lodève museum.
And when he talks about the dramatic events in the Middle East, (communicative) tears well up without warning and failing to extinguish that joy that shines with a permanent smile, “Artists, do something… as was done for Africa”, throws like a bottle into the Mediterranean. He would be happy to do so.