Nikolaus Schapfl is a German-born pianist and composer. Since graduating with honours from the Mozarteum University of Salzburg in 1996, he has toured the world (USA, Europe, China, etc.). In 1998, he composed an opera based on the German edition of The Little Prince. The opera has since been staged over 25 times in 8 different cities, most notably on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the publication of The Little Prince. Now Nikolaus Schapfl has adapted the libretto into French.
On 29 June 2009, at the Rencontres Internationales de Saint-Exupéry event, Nikolaus Schapfl played an extract from this new version, accompanied by soprano Eléonore Lemaire. The piece was taken from scene 5: The rose and the Little Prince.
2009 is the Year of France in Brazil, which is hosting a number of French cultural and artistic events. Brazil is also a great friend to the Little Prince and to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Which explains why the city of São Paulo is hosting an exhibition dedicated exclusively to Saint-Exupéry and the Little Prince.
The venue
The Oca pavilion is a futuristic building designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1954. This giant exhibition pavilion, totalling 10,771 m² on four floors, is renowned for staging world-class art exhibitions. The Oca stands in Ibirapuera Park, in the very heart of São Paulo.
The exhibition
The concept is as simple as it is appealing: whisk adults and children away on a journey into the world of the Little Prince, his philosophy, and the thinking of his author. Each floor constitutes a world of its own. At the start, the first exhibition space presents Saint-Exupéry, his period, his work and the origins of the Little Prince. The visitor then travels onwards through a series of themed worlds (the desert, the stars, the cosmos, etc.). Spaces like the Little Prince Cinema will offer the visitor an insight into the link to Saint-Exupéry’s book « Wind, Sand and Stars » (Terre des Hommes).
Saint-Exupéry’s message to mankind is one of fraternity, and serves as a touchstone for more contemporary commitments. The exhibition offers an opportunity to explore « new territories » for the Little Prince such as protecting the environment, promoting the rights of the child or caring for sick children at the Pequeno Principe Hospital.
Son et lumière shows, dedicated sets and multimedia events immerse the visitor in another world, a different universe of which he becomes an integral part.
If this article sounds a little like a movie trailer, that’s because our team will soon be heading out to São Paulo, and it will be our great pleasure to share with you our experiences of this unique universe, the only one of its kind in the world, dedicated to the Little Prince. More later.
Corsica, 30 July 1944. At the age of 44, squadron leader and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (played by Bernard Giraudeau) is preparing for what will prove to be his last mission. During the 48 hours leading up to that fateful final take-off, the aviator and poet reflects on the highlights of his life and all those he has loved.
We recently reported the DVD release of the film Saint-Exupéry – La Dernière Mission. Now the Robert Enrico film is coming out in a collector’s edition DVD (limited to 4,000 copies). The boxed set contains the two-DVD collection (the film itself and a documentary on the aviator’s disappearance), a 24-page booklet recounting the life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and, perhaps best of all, a scale model of the P-38 Lighting F5B no. 223, the aircraft the pilot flew on his reconnaissance missions. The all-metal model measures 15.5 cm x 21.5 cm and comes with a special display stand.
Where on earth is the Little Prince running to? Has he missed the flight of the wild geese? Has his sheep escaped? Has he forgotten to cut a baobab shoot? The story does not say – it is left to our imagination. The author of this drawing is the illustrator Nicolas Mazière, alias Nicolin. Well known on the web for his animated films with their zany characters, Nicolin also told a wonderful story called The fabulous destiny of Amélie Pingouin. Behind his humour that dabbles in everything and anything, the illustrator from Marseille wants just one thing – to entertain us.
he Hollywood child prodigy was a great fan of the Little Prince. It is said he identified with the character (for his youth and fragility) to the point that when he phoned the musician Alec Wilder he is supposed to have said: “Hello Mr Wilder, it’s the Little Prince.” Just like Orson Welles, he apparently thought of taking it to the screen.
In 1997 a monument was erected at the place where his accident took place in Cholame (California); on it is written “what is essential is invisible to the eye,” a quotation from the Little Prince that was close to James Dean’s heart.
Guy Laliberté, the founder of the Cirque du Soleil andthe One Drop foundaciation, took off for the stars on 30 September 2009. The 12 day space voyage is part of a campaign to raise awareness about the scarcity of water in some countries in the world. The eternal clown Guy Laliberté has taken his red nose and a copy of the Little Prince with him as a way of demonstrating that this trip is a childhood dream come true. This new space tourist even plans on sharing the book with the spaceship’s crew. And during his stay the “space clown” will give several performances including a special show beamed from the international space station on 9 October.
And it is rightly about encounters. For her new show Véronique Deroide decided to tell the story of The Little Prince – not reading but telling the story. Simply presented, sometimes accompanied by music and following the purest oral tradition, the storyteller brings alive the meeting between a lost aviator and a small boy looking for a friend.
14 October at 5:00 p.m.: performance open to the public 15 and 16 October: schools performances at 2:30 p.m. 17 October: performance open to the public at 7:00 p.m. Duration: 60 min
At the Roll Mop’s Théâtre Bd Kennedy – 62200 Boulogne-sur-mer Tel: 03 21 87 27 31 or theatre.rollmops@wanadoo.fr
Holly is a young blogger who is a student following a preparatory arts course. On her blog you can find amusing anecdotes about her life in Paris and share her reactions. She’s a great admirer of Disney and she’s fabulous at drawing princesses and other characters from the world of her imagination. Today our talented artist has drawn the little prince on his planet, looking at a rose.
In Manhattan, in the heart of the Rockefeller Center there is a French bookstore called the Librairie de France. It was founded 73 years ago by Isaac Molho at the request of David Rockefeller, the millionaire and “host” to French intellectuals fleeing the rise of Nazism in Europe. The bookstore was hugely successful during the Second World War, became a publishing house and published authors such as André Maurois, Jules Romain and… Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A golden era for the bookstore, which in order to respond to demand had 2 tonnes of books delivered a week! Later on the bookstore became THE place for all Francophiles to meet up. In 2009, with a massive increase in rental, from 360,000 to 1 million dollars, the bookstore has to close. So if you are a lover of old books or a friend of Saint-Exupéry and are visiting New York, why not pay a visit to its old location…
Japan is a country that loves The Little Prince so dearly, it has dedicated a museum to him. Today, let us introduce you to Mino Hiroshi, university professor and writer, a specialist in the works of Camus and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and author of two books on The Little Prince. Read more…
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Japan is a country that loves The Little Prince so dearly, it has dedicated a museum to him. Today, let us introduce you to Mino Hiroshi, university professor and writer, a specialist in the works of Camus and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and author of two books on The Little Prince.