Philip Glass's music possesses a unique visual and immersive dimension: hypnotic and infinite, it demands a space that resonates with its own geometry. For the international tour of the Cocteau Trilogy, blam collaborated with Cyril Teste and Nina Chalot to design the major chandelier that hangs above the stage, an object suspended between light and musical score.

On stage, Katia and Marielle Labèque perform the suites for two pianos drawn from the three operas Philip Glass composed based on Cocteau's work: Orphée, La Belle et la Bête, Les Enfants terribles. Three works, one trilogy, a shared sense of vertigo. Under the artistic direction of Cyril Teste, with scenography by Nina Chalot and lighting design by Mehdi Toutain-Lopez, the stage setup creates a space where formal rigor and visual poetry exist in perfect balance.

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Installed three meters above the pianists, the piece engages in a direct dialogue with the performance. Its silhouette reinterprets the classic typology of the ceremonial chandelier, projecting it into a more radical modernity. Its structure combines the artisanal delicacy of 8,100 faceted glass beads, arranged across 40 strands, with contemporary lighting elements. Entirely clad in fluted glass, the fixture features a sleek, elongated form where physical matter becomes a vehicle for luminous creativity. At the heart of the project lies a subtle technological innovation: point-by-point (LED pixel) lighting programming. This system allows for complex, computer-managed video sequences to be injected directly into each pixel. By utilizing the full color spectrum, the chandelier does more than just illuminate; it reacts in real time, creating a sensitive interaction and a perfect symbiosis between the vibrations of the music and the pulsations of the light.

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Behind the visual poetry lies a feat of nomadic engineering. Designed to meet the extreme demands of stage setups, the object was conceived to be entirely transportable, demountable, and modular. A true logistical challenge, the structure adjusts with agility to the technical constraints of different venues, ensuring it can be rigged anywhere with the same precision. It can be assembled in just one hour, keeping pace with an international tour that, since 2023, has brought stages to life around the world, from Paris to Los Angeles, including Seoul, London, Dublin, and Andorra.

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More information:

Philharmonie Live, recorded March 7, 2024

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