*The Rise and Fall of David Bowie* was written and staged to mark the 10th anniversary of David Bowie’s death, featuring the H-ékosi Wind Band, the symphony orchestra of the Saison Musicale d’Hérouville.
It soon became clear that we wanted to take this production beyond the original commission for 35 musicians and adapt it for a smaller ensemble, the Lazarus 4tet (vocals, piano, bass, drums), created especially for the occasion.
The actor Yohann Allex recounts David Bowie’s life through three characters who knew him well. He takes on the roles, in turn, of Terry Burns, Bowie’s half-brother and a true mentor to his younger brother whilst he was still a teenager; Iggy Pop, his artistic companion from Los Angeles to Berlin; and Philip Glass, who, as if by a mirror effect, reorchestrated the three albums known as the ‘Berlin Trilogy’ into symphonies in the 1990s.
LAZARUS 5TET: Yohann Allex • actor, Hélène Warthmann • piano, Fred Fournier • bass, text & artistic direction, Benjamin André • drums
