Alexandre Tharaud and dancer Chun-Wing Lam breathe new life into Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) in this breathtaking film, featuring choreography by Wun Sze Chan. A film by Raphaël Wertheimer.
Originally written as a symphonic poem, this work was transcribed by Alexandre and released for the first time within his collection Le Poète du Piano.
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
♪ Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune / Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894)
Transcribed for piano by Alexandre Tharaud
A film by Raphaël Wertheimer
Choreography by Wun Sze Chan
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Chun-Wing Lam, dancer
Erato – Warner Classics, 2020
(HD 1080p)
Dance has always had a special place in my life, since my years of classical dance, accompanying my childhood and adolescence. Chun-Wing Lam is as passionate about the piano as he is an admirable dancer at the Paris Opera. We wanted to work together on a strong project, bringing together our two passions for piano and dance. "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", which has inspired so many choreographers since its creation by Nijinsky in 1912, seemed to us to be the ideal piece. We then turned to director Raphaël Wertheimer and German choreographer Wun-Sze Chan. In March and April, during the Paris confinement, we worked fervently. Chun-Wing and Wun-Sze, each in their own country, met each day by video. A project of six months, with eight hands.
In June, we were lucky enough to be welcomed by the town of Fécamp to film the central passage of the film, on dizzyingly high cliffs, more than 100 meters above the sea. The stifling heat, up to 44 degrees, made filming difficult, but this blazing sun gave us powerful images, especially at the end of the day, when the ochres in the sky appear. At the end of August, it was the Scène Nationale de Chambéry Savoie that opened its doors for us. Several wonderful days on this large plateau, surrounded by a great team. The lights change throughout the ballet, bringing every atmosphere. The piano is placed in four different locations, so that the spectator gets lost in the space. Le Château d'Argol by Julien Gracq guided us with its romantic and dark atmosphere. We included it in the film.
Back in Paris, the editing work took two months. Each shot was worked on at a quarter of a second. Thus, we have the film we wanted, demanding, as close as possible to Debussy's music. I hope you like it.
Alexandre Tharaud, 2020
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