In the year of its 40th anniversary, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, famous for its performances of 20th and 21st century music, presented five very special programmes at the Cité de la Musique and the Théâtre de Chaillot in Paris, each one of them dealing with its own particular subject. The single works performed in the 5 concerts are available as 23 individual films. The Grand Soir Stravinsky is dedicated to the legendary 20th century composer Igor Stravinsky, featuring his burlesque pocket-size opéra-ballet Renard, written in 1916.
Pablo Picasso at Pompeii – Parade & Pulcinella
Celebrating the centenary of Picasso’s visit to Italy, the Teatro Grande di Pompeii hosts two ballets with sets and costumes designed by this legendary Spanish artist. 100 Years ago, Picasso made a journey to Naples in order to work on Parade, an avant-garde ballet for the famous Ballets Russes with a libretto by Jean Cocteau, music by Erik Satie and a choreography by Léonide Massine. Three years later, Picasso and the Ballets Russes joined forces again for Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” at the Opéra de Paris. Performance only: Length 63′ // Narrated Performance Version: Length 67′
Nelsons conducts Gewandhausorchester Leipzig: Webern, Wagner and Stravinsky
When Andris Nelsons made his debut with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in 2011, the conductor and the orchestra are said to have felt a magical connection, which only a few years later resulted in his appointment as the 21st principal conductor of the world-renowned orchestra, beginning in 2018. In 2016, one of his concerts with the Gewandhausorchester featured three works by three composers, each of whom revolutionized the musical traditions of their times. Anton Webern, Richard Wagner and Igor Stravinsky. PROGRAM: Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra; Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
Oedipus Rex
This ambitious production uses a number of striking visual elements including a massive set that floats above a reflecting pool, huge puppets and sculptures. The noted Butoh artist, Min Tanaka, dances the role of Oedipus, and is joined by twenty dancers to portry this classical tragedy.
Teodor Currentzis – UTOPIA
Theodor Currentzis presents his new orchestra project „Utopia“ – and brings together 112 musicians from 22 nations. Outstanding musicians from international orchestras, the independent scene, soloists and chamber musicians come together to work on exemplary works of orchestral literature. The debut concerts of the new orchestra focus on refined and complex orchestral works of the early 20th century: Stravinsky‘s rarely performed third „Firebird“ suite from 1945, as well as the masterfully orchestrated second suite from „Daphnis et Chloé“ and the choreographic poem „La Valse“ by Maurice Ravel. All of the compositions exemplify the aesthetic thinking of the time. They are exquisite artefacts for demanding connoisseurs: The latest achievements in the art of orchestration, rousing dance rhythms and frenzied apotheoses stand for themselves. The „l‘art pour l‘art“ principle („art for art‘s sake“) is in the foreground here. In keeping with the orchestra‘s name, all three works thematize a form of the golden age: the ancient Greek pastoral („Daphnis et Chloé“), the Russian fairy-tale world („The Firebird“) and the Austrian imperial court in its heyday („La Valse“). PROGRAM Stravinsky: Firebird; Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, La Valse, Boléro
Tanglewood Festival 2021 – A.S. Mutter & John Williams
C Major is delighted to present the world premiere performance of John Williams’ Violin Concerto No.2 from the Tanglewood Festival. Williams himself conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the soloist is the work’s dedicatee, Anne-Sophie Mutter. The legendary composer and superstar violinist are old friends and have enjoyed worldwide success together in recent years. Providing an explosive opening to the concert is American composer-violinist Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst (2012) for string orchestra, full of fiery colours and energy and conducted by the BSO’s Music Director Andris Nelsons. He returns to the stage after the Violin Concerto for Copland’s Quiet City, a score that began life as incidental music for a play of the same name, but found fame as a standalone concert piece. With haunting solo parts for trumpet and English horn, this reflective work paints an atmospheric portrait of a city by night. The programme ends with the suite Stravinsky put together in 1919 from his ballet The Firebird, triumphantly premiered in Paris in 1910. PROGRAM Williams: Violin Concerto No. 2 & Across the Stars; Montgomery: Starburst; Copland: Quiet City; Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird
RCO: Järvi conducts Khachaturian & Stravinsky
The Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi is in his element with repertoire from Northern and Eastern Europe, and this programme features three such works. Vesper (Poem) by his compatriot Ester Mägi, ‘the first lady of Estonian music’, is a poetic work for strings inspired by St John’s Church in Tallinn. The Khachaturian Piano Concerto is proof that colourful, vibrant music was indeed written in the Soviet era. The work is imbued with the influence of Armenian folk music. And to add to the exotic atmosphere, the piano is accompanied by a musical saw in the middle movement! The work is grist to Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s mill, a pianist who for decades has excelled in original repertoire. Finally, there’s Petrushka, Stravinsky’s exuberant ballet music about a marionette who comes to life, falls in love and wreaks havoc on a Russian carnival. Listeners need no sets or dancers to see the story unfold before them, and the colourful music lets all the members of the orchestra shine. PROGRAM Mägi: Vesper; Khatchatourian: Piano Concerto; Stravinsky: Petrushka