LIMEN
a laboratory of new convention
duration 45 min.
Limen solo performance in which I sing the aria ‘Avant de quitter ces lieux’ from Gounod’s opera Faust at a drastically reduced tempo: forty times slower than the score. I do this while wearing a costume replica of a helmet from the Middle Ages. In the aria, Valentin, who is going to war, prays to God to protect his sister Marguerite while he is gone or if he dies. This aria is one of the most demanding in the baritone repertoire. I learned this piece while training as a professional baritone. I found it both beautiful and challenging, but it also raised questions in my mind about virtuosity in classical music. What is the meaning and value of virtuosity? In LIMEN, because I am singing the notes and the lyrics so slowly, I strip the aria of both melody and immediate meaning. In this way, I expand the concept of virtuosity to include atonality, endurance, and even loss of consciousness.
(c) Maria Romero