Doux Mensonges

We all were educated to tell the truth and nothing but the truth... 
But the truth is a rare species, which often doesn’t even know its 
own truthfulness. Everything in our life is a deception, sometimes 
pleasant sometimes not. We can never rely on the information we 
receive. 
However, this doesn’t necessarily depend on the truthfulness  of 
the information itself, but much rather on our ability to receive, 
interpret, or manipulate it... Because “truth and deception” is the 
central theme of this work, I have chosen music of two composers, 
who created music of diametrically opposing styles: Monteverdi and 
Gesualdo - two extraordinary and sharply contrasting personalities, 
who have a very unique place in the history of music: Monteverdi 
as a great innovator - a shining “prince of light” on one side...
Gesualdo, tortured by highly dramatic events of his life
- a “duke of darkness”. The “demons” of Gesualdo and the 
“muses” of Monteverdi are certainly the main influences on their 
lives and their creations.

I have created “Doux Mensonges” for the Paris Opera - Palais 
Garnier. This remarkable building is guarded by two “icons”
- The highest point of the opera is crowned by a golden statue 
of Apollo, the ancient Greek god of light, prophecy, healing, 
music, poetry and arts in general. The lowest, underground 
point of the house is a lake. It is the source of a legend, 
according to which this lake is the dwelling place of a “Phantom”... 

	
	
Between these two figures, there is an endless space for fantasy, 
encompassing all shades between the brightest light and the 
deadliest darkness. Considering these ingredients, I felt that 
it was interesting to look at my own creation, from the point of 
view of these two contrasting perspectives. 
This is the reason, why I have decided to show the public not 
only the action on stage, but also the actions in the spaces 
underneath it... With other words: I have tried to make a simple 
statement about the controversy of the two worlds within us: 
the world, which we allow others to see and become part of it 
on one side, and the world which we prefer to keep hidden from 
others on the other...

In my opinion, this presentation can never be totally honest...
But sometimes we feel the need to do just that, and as we do so, 
everything changes: The secret is no longer a secret... it becomes 
a “performance”  a “public domain”... Because, as we spit out the 
inside of our stomach - it is no longer the inside of our stomach - 
it is no longer a secret..!
In fact it is never possible to make our secrets public - our 
secrets will stay locked inside us forever - otherwise they will 
become desecrated - they will no longer be secrets...
We can only present them as “Doux Mensonges” - “Sweet Lies”...            		

                    Jiří Kylián - The Hague, November 9, 2010