François Couperin and Shadow Theater

Pianist Natacha Kudritskaya takes us into a world where Couperin's music meets shadow theater, video and visual poetry. In this dreamlike project, each piece becomes a story. Couperin's evocative titles come alive through the shadows imagined by Leslie Laugero: a torch, some dried plants, and suddenly dreams, memories and childhood emerge.

The show also questions migration, roots and identity: why do birds and humans migrate? Can one leave without losing oneself?

Carried by images created by Leslie Laugero and animated in video by Benoît Lahoz, this creation becomes an immersive, sensitive and poetic experience.

“A strange, dreamlike show, almost fantastical, evocative of departures, journeys, and exile.”

Couperin’s poetic titles are mirrors of the imaginary world where the delicacy of his music invites us to wander. While working on the project, images of migrating birds came alive in my imagination.

I wanted these large-winged figures to share the stage beside the piano. Meeting puppeteer Leslie Laugero made that possible. Her work connected the album programme to a video creation inspired by shadow theatre, projected on stage as a poetic echo to the pieces I play at the piano: birds became the thread. They stand for the deep bonds between people and nature—a constant source of musical inspiration that Couperin often evokes in his works.