An encounter with theatre musician Jean-Jacques Lemêtre – known for over 40 years of work at the world-famous Théâtre du Soleil in Paris – led to an extraordinary new project: ‘Heinrich Heine’s Le Grand’, a piece of music theatre that builds a cultural bridge between Germany and France. The inspiration for the piece comes from Heine’s book ‘Ideas – Le Grand’, in which he describes his first encounter with a Frenchman: the Tambour Le Grand. With drums and a lively performance, he introduced the young Heine to the history of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic campaigns.
Heine wrote: ‘… he taught me modern history. I did not understand the words he spoke, but as he drummed constantly while he spoke, I knew what he wanted to say. Basically, that’s the best teaching method.’
The ensemble for this piece consists of two actors who have been associated with us for many years and who have already impressed in previous productions at the Theatre of Sounds: