La Passion de Simone
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| La Passion de Simone | |
|---|---|
| A musical journey in 15 stations | |
| Oratorio by Kaija Saariaho | |
 Simone Weil on whose life and writings the libretto is based | |
| Text | by Amin Maalouf |
| Language | French |
| Based on | life and writings of Simone Weil |
| Performed | 26 November 2006: Vienna |
| Movements | 15 |
| Scoring |
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La Passion de Simone is an oratorio (or opera[1]) composed by Kaija Saariaho to a libretto in French by Amin Maalouf, first premiered in a staging by Peter Sellars. The work, subtitled "a musical journey in 15 stations", centers on the life and writings of Simone Weil and was conceived in the Passion Play tradition with episodes in her life linked to the Stations of the Cross. It is composed for SATB chorus, soprano soloist, spoken voice, orchestra and electronic instruments.
La Passion de Simone was commissioned jointly by the New Crowned Hope festival in Vienna, the Barbican Centre, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. It had its world premiere on 26 November 2006 at the Jugendstiltheater in Vienna as part of Peter Sellars' New Crowned Hope festival. The world premiere performers were the Klangforum Wien orchestra conducted by Susanna Mälkki; the Arnold Schoenberg Choir conducted by Erwin Ortner; Finnish soprano Pia Freund as the narrator; Michael Schumacher as the silent dancer (a directorial addition by Sellars), and Dominique Blanc as the voice of Simone Weil.
The work had its United Kingdom premiere at the Barbican Centre, London in July 2007 and its US premiere in August 2008 at the Lincoln Center, New York City, as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival. Unlike previous performances, the French premiere at the Opéra Bastille in June 2009 was performed without Sellars' staging. Nevertheless, Dawn Upshaw, for whom the role of the narrator was originally written, performed in all three premieres.
In February 2026, the work was performed by the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Film Centre. The production was directed by Marcus Shields and conducted by Marc Lowenstein, with Nikan Ingabire Kanate as the narrator.[2]
