Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is starting its stellar 2024 season strong with the world premiere of Notre-Dame, a moving theatrical production by award-winning playwright Alana Valentine. Running for a limited time in Sydney and Melbourne, this spoken-word concert will commemorate 800 years of exquisite music performed in the iconic Notre-Dame de Paris.
Notre-Dame was first conceptualised by playwright and director Alana Valentine and Brandenburg Artistic Director Paul Dyer, who were together when they heard of the fire that partially destroyed the famous Gothic cathedral in 2019.
Valentine explains, “My libretto Notre-Dame is the story of a female engineer who travels to Paris to work on the in-progress restoration of the iconic cathedral, on the very day that after nearly one thousand years of existence, this world heritage site is almost burnt to the ground. Metaphorically it speaks of the cathedral as the work of a century of artists and musicians, of its poetry, music and faith as global gifts to humanity.”
Spirited and soulful, Notre-Dame is brought to life by two talented actors, accompanied by rich orchestral sounds from the acclaimed Australian Brandenburg Choir and Orchestra, on period instruments.
The musical program includes pieces performed in the Notre-Dame de Paris over the last eight centuries, plus the world premiere of l’aube by living Australian composer Hugh Ronzani, and the Australian premiere of Introite from Messe de Requiem by 18th-century French composer André Campra.
In 2021, Valentine received an Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Best Script for a work of Musical Theatre. She reflects, “I hope the lyricism and narrative emotion of this work, with Paul’s perceptive and clever weaving of French music throughout, will entertain, inspire and speak to our collective spirit of resilience and hope as unstoppable forces for good.”
Audiences will be transported through 800 years of history in Notre-Dame, with incredible production design by Sean Bacon. He built four large screens in the shape of church windows, which rise above the stage, and onto which historical images and footage are projected.
Notre-Dame will play at Melbourne Recital Centre from February 22-25 and at Sydney’s City Recital Centre from February 27 to March 2. You can get tickets from $30 here.