Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Claude Debussy, Rêverie is the fourth biographical programme of composers’ words and music to be compiled and scripted by pianist Lucy Parham. A crucial element of Debussy’s complex intellectual and emotional world was an entangled love life that brought illicit trysts in Jersey, a brush with a revolver and even a suicide attempt.

One of the most prolific and innovative composers of the early 20th century, Claude Debussy absorbed and transformed cultural influences from countries as far apart as Scotland (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair), Japan (Poissons d’Or) and the USA (Golliwogg’s Cake Walk).
The narrative of Rêverie, which takes the form of a personal journal, follows him from his initial success with the Prix de Rome in 1885 to his untimely death in 1918. It is punctuated with solo piano works ranging from the ever-popular lyricism of Clair de Lune, Reverie and The Girl with the Flaxen Hair to such virtuosic showpieces as Jardins sous la pluie, the Etudes and L’isle joyeuse.

Rêverie will be performed as part of the Wigmore Hall London Piano Series in December 2012. The narrator is Dominic West, with whom Lucy Parham will also be performing Rêverie at the Sheffield Union Chapel and the Salisbury Playhouse. Further performances will take place at the Lichfield Festival, St.George’s Bristol, Harrogate Festival, Lower Machen Festival, Canterbury Festival, Middle Temple and the City of London Guildhall.

Actors include Dominic West, Henry Goodman, Michael Maloney and Samuel West.

Further actors/performances to be confirmed shortly.

The Cast: