DEBUSSY, TAKEMITSU, BOULEZ :
BRUTAL ELEGANCE
8pm | Zipper Hall | The Colburn School
|
Claude Debussy - SYRINX (1913) Toshio Hosokawa - "HAIKU" for PIERRE BOULEZ (2000) Claude Debussy - LES CHANSONS de BILITIS (version completed by Pierre Boulez) (1901/1954) Toru Takemitsu - RAIN TREE (1981) Pierre Boulez - SUR INCISES (1998) ECHOI Ensemble Gloria Cheng, Conor Hanick, Todd Moellenberg, piano Cristina Montes Mateo, Allison Allport, Catherine Litaker, harp Nick Terry, Derek Tywoniuk, Eric Derr, percussion Eva Doležalova, speaker Jonathan Hepfer, conductor On a visit to the Marciano foundation last year with my friend Yuval Sharon, he described MEC's programming as "brutal but elegant." I took great pride in this remark, which I felt to be astute.
The composer I feel epitomizes this particular sentiment is the late Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) who, incidentally, made his American debut on a Monday Evening Concert in 1954, and was an ally and collaborator of the series until his death, even writing his Éclat for the series when it began its run at LACMA in 1976. I personally had some contact with Boulez at the Lucerne Festival in the early 2000's, and even went on an international tour with him performing two of his masterworks: Le marteau sans maître and Sur incises. |
Gerhard Richter - Abstraktes Bild
|
"You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.”
- Alexander McQueen
As a conductor, as a composer, and as a person, Boulez was someone at once iconoclastic, principled, uncompromising, and yet charming and seductive. These are all qualities I look for as curator of MEC. I want our audience to be pushed, to be challenged, and to grow, but I also want them to fall in love in unexpected ways. At least in my estimation, Boulez's Sur incises for three pianos, three harps and three percussionists accomplishes all of this.
This program, which also serves as an homage to Boulez, presents a work by Claude Debussy which may reveal something important about Boulez's roots vis-à-vis instrumental color, as well as works by two Japanese titans, Toshio Hosokawa and Toru Takemitsu, whose works seem to complement those of Boulez like pieces of a puzzle.
- Jonathan Hepfer, Artistic Director
This program, which also serves as an homage to Boulez, presents a work by Claude Debussy which may reveal something important about Boulez's roots vis-à-vis instrumental color, as well as works by two Japanese titans, Toshio Hosokawa and Toru Takemitsu, whose works seem to complement those of Boulez like pieces of a puzzle.
- Jonathan Hepfer, Artistic Director