Ben Glassberg on West Side Story
Ben Glassberg (né en 1994) est un chef d’orchestre britannique, originaire de Londres et formé à la Royal Academy of Music. Il est également diplômé en musique de l’université de Cambridge. Directeur musical de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie jusqu’en 2026, il a parallèlement été nommé à la direction du Volksoper de Vienne où il a monté West Side Story.
Contact pour les projets éducatifs de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie (au 01/01/2024) :
Enza Hiesse-Tamarelle
T. : 06 95 38 00 35
enzahiessetamarelle@operaderouen.fr
https://www.operaderouen.fr/
credit Caroline Doutre
Audio script :
“It’s a piece I wanted to do since I was a kid. So, every month, we watched the film - the old original film, not the new one obviously. Every month, we would sit and watch it on VHS…do you know what VHS is ? Doesn’t exist anymore. Avant DVD ! Yeah, really old…so we watched it every month, for me I grew up with this piece, it was iconic. I wanted always to do it for now nearly 30 years and then finally we could do it this year for the first time.
I think the reason it endures so much is that…I mean it’s the same story as Shakespeare - since Romeo & Juliet -, we still play Romeo & Juliet, what four hundred…five hundred years later ; and West Side Story it’s the same, it’s this kind of love and hate, which will always exist for us as humans, so I think the core of it, emotionally, will never change. I also think the music is perfect, there’s not a single measure in the music you would want to change. It’s so well-written with different styles, with jazz, with Latin American music. And every tune stays in your head, you know, you leave the theater and you are humming, singing the tune, it’s incredible. Yeah, I really think it’s completely perfect as a work of theater…music theater.”
By Valentin Locoge
Key words :
Ben Glassberg, Opera, Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story, Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare, Broadway, Musical, Love, Hate, Jazz, Latin American music.
Key quotes :
“West Side Story it’s the same, it’s this kind of love and hate, which will always exist for us as humans, so I think the core of it, emotionally, will never change.”
“The music is perfect, there’s not a single measure in the music you would want to change. It’s so well-written with different styles, with jazz, with Latin American music. And every tune stays in your head, you know, you leave the theater and you are humming, singing the tune, it’s incredible.”
Links with the curriculum :
• L’imaginaire (cycle 3)
• Langages - les langages artistiques et leurs interactions (cycle 4)
• Rencontre avec d’autres cultures (cycle 4)
• Voyages et migrations (cycle 4)
• Représentation de soi et rapport à autrui (2nde)
• La création et le rapport aux arts (2nde)
• Le village, le quartier, la ville (2nde)
• Le passé dans le présent (2nde)
• Identité et échanges (cycle terminal)
• Art et pouvoir (cycle terminal)
• Fictions et réalités (cycle terminal)
• Diversité et inclusion (cycle terminal)
• Espace privé et espace public (cycle terminal)
• Territoire et mémoire (cycle terminal)
Spécialités :
• LLCER - Voyages, territoires, frontières
• LLCER - Arts et débat d’idées
• LLCER-AMC - Environnements en mutation
• LLCER-AMC - La relation au monde