Alexis Duffaure starts his work session with the basic rules of pronunciation in each language. In Welsh, “the ‘ch’ is the German ‘che’, the ‘f’ is pronounced ‘v’, when you have two ‘f’s, it’s an ‘f’, ‘th’ is the “the” English…” lists the assistant conductor of the Bordeaux Opera choir in front of the forty choristers, who scrupulously note the instructions.
Gathered on Wednesday in a room of the auditorium, they rehearse the anthems of the eight nations which will play in Bordeaux during the Rugby World Cup, namely Fiji, Ireland, Romania, Wales, Samoa, Chile, South Africa and Georgia. Three Fridays in September, the choir will perform on the steps of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux the anthem of the nations playing the following weekend at the Matmut stadium, followed by a traditional song from each country, and La vie en rose by Édith Piaf who will close the concert. The service will be enhanced by a performance by the Tango nomade troupe, circus artists who will perform above the choir.
“There will certainly remain a little French accent…”
“Rugby Choir”, an initiative by the Bordeaux Opera at the request of the city and the metropolis who wanted a special event around the Rugby World Cup, was decided last June. And rehearsals only started… at the beginning of this week. In ten minutes, all forty choristers must be able to assimilate the pronunciation of each song before delivering a first interpretation, which will be refined during the final rehearsal. “We work meticulously, syllable by syllable, because we don’t speak the native language at all, so we repeat the phonetics until it’s complete,” Alexis Duffaure explains to us. It is necessary that people whose mother tongue is able to understand, even if there will certainly remain a little French accent in the final interpretation, but it will be our personal touch that we assume. »
If the assistant conductor of the choir recalls that his choristers are experienced in the exercise, since they must be able to perform operas in Czech or Russian throughout the year, he nevertheless notes that this time- Here, the challenge “is to learn many different languages in a very short time” including some “that we don’t do traditionally enough, like Romanian. »
“Sounds we don’t know how to make”
Fortunately, for this language, Alexis Duffaure has in his troupe a Romanian of origin, Marilena Florica Goia. After fleeing Romania in 1990 following the fall of the dictator Ceausescu, she joined the Bordeaux choir in 1995. “As a Romanian, I have difficulty letting an approximate pronunciation slip, which is why I allowed myself to offer to help my colleagues”, she explains, filled with emotion to be able to interpret her anthem in her native language. This help is all the more welcome, as she also recognizes “that it is a difficult language, because it is a very tonic articulation, you really have to put weight on the consonant, which is not the case in French. »
Alexis Duffaure, who has learned a lot about the languages and cultures of each country since June, does not suffer from approximate pronunciation either. But recognizes that the difficulty varies between languages. “It actually depends on how many phonemes there are in the French language. For example, I was very surprised at the difficulty of the anthem of Romania, and especially of Wales[[Hen Wlad fy Nhadau, Old country of my ancestors), because they have sounds that we don’t have, and that we don’t know how to make. »
“Forty voices singing together is like a team”
Given the speed of assimilation of the choir members, and the quality of the interpretation from the first draft, there is no doubt that the choir will be there this Friday for the premiere, and will give a performance that will make your hair stand on end. on the arms. “It’s a very agile opera choir that can sing just about anything,” says Emmanuel Hondré, director of the Opéra de Bordeaux.
At the origin of this project, Emmanuel Hondré explains that the challenge behind performance is also to “show that culture is not foreign to the major issues of sport. » “There are many points in common between the two: the collective, the action, the inspiration, the dream… When an orchestra, a ballet or a choir performs, it is also teamwork. “” Forty voices singing together, it’s like a team, abounds Alexis Duffaure. It’s full of players who form a single scrum to win. »
“Perhaps the public will want to sing with us! »
The ambition of the project is also to penetrate “into the culture of each of these countries” by going further than the national anthem. This is why Emmanuel Hondré commissioned Alexis Duffaure to unearth traditional songs for each country. “I wanted something that gives the identity of a people, explains the latter, like the Fiji song that we are going to interpret, Fijian Gospel, which is a traditional hymn that rugby players themselves sometimes sing in the locker room. »
Finally, the director of the Opera also wanted to represent France at the end of each evening. “I suggested that we think about what would embody France, apart from The Marseillaise. And we agreed on La vie en rose by Piaf. » Emmanuel Hondré does not hide his impatience to discover this performance this Friday, “on the Place de la Comédie which is an incredible place, like an outdoor theater. » “And maybe the audience will want to sing with us!” » Emmanuel Hondré and Alexis Duffaure hope together.
“Rugby Choir”, Friday September 8: Ireland, Romania, Wales, Fiji; Friday 15: Samoa, Chile, South Africa, Romania; Friday September 29: Fiji, Georgia. At 7 p.m. on the square in front of the Grand Théâtre. Free.