The Schwerin premiere of "Camille Claudel: Into the Fire" as part of the GEDOK-MV exhibition "Correspondences"
INTO THE FIRE
CAMILLE CLAUDEL: INTO THE FIRE
Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Gene Scheer
In English (accompanying moderation in German)
Jake Heggie's song cycle "Camille Claudel - Into the Fire" is based on the biography of the famous French sculptor Camille Claudel (1864-1943) and provides insights into her life, which was marked by art, passion, delusions and loss.
Johanna Kuchenbuch (violin), Brita Lenke (violin), Franziska Schwarz (viola) and Sofia von Freydorf (violoncello) play together in a string quartet. Sophia Maeno sings the mezzo-soprano part and slips into the role of the passionate artist and legendary pupil and lover of Auguste Rodin.
Jake Heggie sets six well-known sculptures by Claudel to music in the song cycle, as well as the encounter with her studio friend Jessie Lipscomb, who visited her in the Montdevergues clinic in 1929. In addition to her artistic work, the music also explores Claudel's relationship
with Auguste Rodin. She was an assistant to the sculptor Rodin for over 15 years and had a passionate but also conflict-ridden affair with him at the time. Heggie's music is an onomatopoeic reflection of how closely Rodin and Claudel's art and life were connected.
The Schwerin premiere of this captivating work will take place at Kunstwasserwerk Schwerin on 28.09.2025 at 5 pm as part of the "Correspondences" exhibition by the GEDOK-MV and Kunst Heute group.
