Une maison dans la main

The opera takes place in a house on the banks of the St. Lawrence, where a father and son live together. When a never-ending rainstorm sweeps through the region, threatening to push the river out of its banks, a leak in the ceiling lets in an incessant drip. As the water rises in the house, the son begins to doubt the safety of their home. The father, lost in the daydreams of his lost companion, can't seem to imagine a future outside these memory-filled walls. As the years go by, the water continues to rise and the urgency to leave grows. At the height of the flood, submerged and powerless, the son understands that the only way to save his father is to become his home:

"I'll have a house in my hand for you to rest in."

Une Maison dans la main questions the relationship we have with our home through bereavement, life's ruptures and family transformations. If the home were to disappear, what would remain of the stories and memories it has sheltered?

Credits

• Alithéa Ripoll, music
• Thomas Dufour, libretto
• Chélanie Beaudin-Quintin and Clémentine Brochet, direction
• Émilie Langlais and Julie Creusefond, set design
• Bruno Roy and Geoffroy Schellenberg, vocals
• Mathieu Coderre, Samuel Nolet, Louis Barreiros Bottas, extras
• Gwenaëlle Ratouit, clarinets
• Leïla Saurel, cello
• Darko Dimitrijević, accordion
• Jean-Michaël Lavoie, conductor and musical director
• Martine Jomphe and Mattia Senesi, vocal coaching