2003 · L'Empio Punito · Melani · Rousset · Vigner (EN)

“This opera can only play in the Orient. I think of the Serails, for example. The whole atmosphere and the seclusion of Atraces’ Empire speak for an Eastern world. In the 17th and the 18th century, there was a big fascination in Europe for the Orient, especially in Italy. The proximity to the Ottoman Empire and the cultural difference excited the imagination of European courts, for eroticism and sensuality as well as for a certain form of cruelty, the unspoken, the hidden and the shadowy picture of the Orient. The theater of the 17th and 18th century, MOLIÈRE…, is sensible to the imagery of the Orient, as well as the librettists and composers of that time.”
ÉRIC VIGNER

“The space is a primary matter, comparable with gold, which has not been treated yet. It is a hard, a compact matter with lots of force in it. This world has its own laws, usually nothing can penetrate from the outside - a kind of golden cage. The first act still lies in the shade. The gold is not activated yet. In the course of the piece light comes into this world by Acrimante. He himself is dressed in black, but he brings light into this world. He literally lights it up, so that it shines from inside out. In the transferred sense: all characters learn something about themselves.”
ÉV