David Bontemps – La Flambeau
Suzanne Tafflot; Catherine Daniel; Paul Williamson; Brandon Coleman; Orchestre Classique de Montréal; Alain Trudel
ATMA ACD2 2880 (atmaclassique.com/en)
La Flambeau is a chamber opera by David Bontemps. Premiered in 2023 with the Montreal Classical Orchestra and conducted by Alain Trudel, La Flambeau features Canadian mezzo-soprano Catherine Daniel, American bass-baritone Brandon Coleman, Cameroonian-born soprano Suzanne Taffot and Jamaican-Canadian tenor Paul Williamson.
Based on the play of the same name by Haitian poet and playwright Faubert Bolivar (b.1979), the opera is sung in French with short passages in Haitian Creole. The opera begins with an overture and evolves into seven scenes scored for string orchestra and maracas. Set in Haiti, La Flambeau’s characters have no names: Monsieur who has political ambitions and is preparing a speech; Madame, his wife who speaks to deceased family members; Mademoiselle, their working-class maid abused by Monsieur; and l’Homme, a sort of judge who condemns and ultimately sentences Monsieur, turning him into a zombie in the service of his community.
While on the surface drawing on Yoruba mythology and Haitian Vodou traditions, the composer also embeds commentary on women’s rights, deceit, prejudice and corruption. Bontemps writes unornamented melodies with Afro-Haitian elements and in the style and rhythm of spoken word.
The recording of La Flambeau is an opportunity to hear a cast of prominent Black singers in a medium where they are historically underrepresented. The singers’ musicality and commitment to the text invites listeners on a journey inside of our humanity to show that individual struggles are of a universal nature, regardless of gender, colour or caste.
