''Excalibur'' is a three-part "Celtic rock opera" written and directed by Breton folk-rock musician Alan Simon, the first part of which premiered in 1998, and was released as an album in the following year under the French title ''Excalibur, La légende des Celtes''. Its success in France led to two more albums and two novels. In 2009 a spectacular adaptation combining material from the first two albums was performed in Germany under the English title ''Excalibur: the Celtic Rock Opera'', with great success. It was extended with material from the third album in 2011.

The Excalibur trilogy

The first part of an intended trilogy, ''Excalibur, La légende des Celtes'' blended musical styles and was performed by

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Dan Ar Braz Dan Ar Braz (; born Daniel Le Bras on 15 January 1949 in Quimper) is a Breton people, Breton guitarist-singer-composer and the founder of Héritage des Celtes, L'Héritage des Celtes, a 50-piece Pan-Celticism, Pan-Celt band. Leading guitarist in ...

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. The story is based on the legend of King Arthur. Narration is led by

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

. It is structured as a series of songs and instrumental interludes linked by narration, covering the birth of Arthur, the creation of Excalibur, his victory over the pagans, the rebellion of Morgana le Fay and

Mordred Mordred or Modred (; Welsh: ''Medraut'' or ''Medrawt'') is a figure who is variously portrayed in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle ''Annales Cambriae'', wherein h ...

, the search for the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...

, and Arthur's final defeat and trip to

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in th ...

. Most songs are sung in English, though some are in French and the central song, representing the triumph of Arthur and creation of

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

, is an arrangement of a traditional Breton language folk song. A voice-over narrates events in French. Within weeks, the album went gold in France (Top 10). Five concert performances took place between October 1999 and June 2000, including one at Paris-Bercy. A live recording, released as ''Excalibur, le concert mythique'' ("Excalibur, the legendary concert") (CD and DVD) was recorded at the first concert in Rennes on 12 October 1999. In 2007 Simon released the second part of Excalibur, ''Excalibur II, l'anneau des Celtes'' ("Excalibur II: The Celtic Ring") with contributions from

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( Yes),

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and

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. The second part creates a mytho-history of the time before Arthur, describing the birth of Merlin after the loss of the happy land of Anwynn, portrayed as a physical fusion of Britain and Ireland. The emergence of the " Formeriis", demonic barbarians from the earth, violates the perfection of Anwynn. Various Celtic mythical figures are introduced, including

Lugh Lugh or Lug (; ga, label= Modern Irish, Lú ) is a figure in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of supernatural beings, Lugh is portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a savior.Olmsted, Garrett. ''The ...

Bran Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the hard outer layers of cereal grain. It consists of the combined aleurone and pericarp. Corn (maize) bran also includes the pedicel (tip cap). Along with germ, it is an integral part of whole grains ...

and

Saint Brendan Brendan of Clonfert (c. AD 484 - c.577), is one of the early Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He is also referred to as Brendan the Navigator, Brendan the Voyager, Brendan the Anchorite, Brendan the Bold. The ...

. Merlin and

Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon ( Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few ...

struggle to restore order and defeat the Formeriis invasion of Anwynn. It is sung entirely in English. The third part of the trilogy, "The Origins", was released in early 2012. According to Simon, it describes the origins of the proto-human "Formeriis", in his own take on Celtic myth. Like the second part, it is sung in English interspersed with incantatory fragments of Gaelic, Brythonic and wordless chanting. Simon has also written two novels on the story, ''Excalibur, le cercle de Dragon'' (Excalibur, the circle of Dragon), was released in March 2008. A second volume was published in October 2009 called ''Excalibur, la prophétie de Merlin'' (Excalibur, The prophecy of Merlin).

Original 1998 Cast

The Original 1998 Cast and album, narrated by

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, featured among others: *

(Arthur) *

(Uther Pendragon) *

(Perceval) *

* Nikki Matheson * Carlos Núñez *

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* Bohinta *

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*The Prague Symphony Orchestra *Bulgarian Orthodox Choir Philippopolis * Bagad of Saint-Nazaire

Revival in Germany

An adaptation of the original rock operas was created in an English language performance with German narration on 24 July 2009 in the arena of Kaltenberg Castle. The narrator Merlin was portrayed by the German actor Michael Mendl, while the musical parts are performed by a number of high-profile rock and folk musicians, and accompanied by acrobatics, dancing, step-dancing and sword-fighting performances.review of the show
/ref> The success of the spectacle led to a tour in other parts of Germany.

Participants

More than 120 musicians and performers took part in the rock opera. * Johnny Logan *

of Jethro Tull * John Helliwell of

* Les Holroyd *Fiona Wight, participant of

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*Simon Nicol, Gerry Conway, Dave Pegg and Chris Leslie of

*James Wood * Pat O'May *Konan Mevel *

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*The New Symphony Orchestra of Sophia *Feuervogel theater groups and Simone Heitinga *Celtic Feet Dance & Theatre Company *Roland Heiss *Die Schwarzen Ritter zu Bruckh

Further performances

The show was a great success with over 17,000 spectators attending the performances on July 24 and 25. A tour in 12 cities of Germany and Switzerland is planned for 2010. Extracts from the opera were performed at

Fairport's Cropredy Convention Fairport's Cropredy Convention (formerly Cropredy Festival) is an annual festival of folk and rock music, headed by British folk-rock band Fairport Convention and held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. The festi ...

in 2010 by

with guest artists.

References

External links

The official website
{{Music based on Arthurian legends Arthurian music Rock operas 2009 musicals Works based on Merlin