Aboulker: Olympe La Rebelle

Description

Halfway between opera and musical, Olympe la rebelle evokes the path of a revolutionary long overshadowed by history books: In the Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizen (1791) Olympe de Gouges courageously called her "very dear sisters" to revolt against the oppression of which they were victims. The libretto (Violaine Fournier) features a college class (teenager choir) who, under the guidance of their history teacher (baritone) decides to stage a show to pay tribute to the many battles fought by this heroine of the Age of Enlightenment (mezzo-soprano), especially against slavery and the inequalities women suffer from. Animated by Isabelle Aboulker's radiant and catchy music, the constant back and forth between our era and the revolutionary era makes this opera an outstanding life lesson.