Program news for guitarist Roland Dyens, and pianist Louis Lortie
One of the more pleasurable and interesting parts of my job is evaluating, choosing, and sometimes shaping the repertoire that Spivey Hall guest artists perform. Sometimes it's known immediately from an initial exchange about an engagement what the artist will perform; this can take place up to two years in advance of the artist's arrival at Spivey Hall. More often, especially with duos or individual artists in recital, the program comes together six months to a year in advance.
And sometimes, no one knows what the program will be until the audience is seated and listening to the music. That's the case with many jazz artists, and it's true in the instance of the remarkable French guitarist Roland Dyens, who makes his Spivey Hall debut this Sunday, October 3, 2010, at 3 PM. When I requested a program a few weeks ago from his manager (which ordinarily we would publish on our website and in the program book), I received the following, and I think the phrase "Classical player in his fingers, Jazz player in his mind" rather aptly sums up what our audience may expect from this multi-talented musician, who speaks five languages fluently and whose artistry cannot be easily compartmentalized.
Roland Dyens
CONCERT PROGRAM
Roland Dyens is unique in the classical guitar world, in that he always starts his concerts with an improvised piece. Each of these spontaneous compositions is different from his last concert or his next. You and he will experience this first piece of music together, for the first time.
Classical player in his fingers, Jazz player in his mind ...
In the world of jazz, the notion of a concert program does not exist. Roland Dyens rarely gives prior notice of the pieces that he will play in recital. It is his way of creating the best possible atmosphere, by taking into account his audience, the acoustics of the hall and especially his deep desire to be true to his feelings at the moment that he actually interprets the music.
In the same way, the improvisation is a sort of “tuning in” process, a prelude that is as indispensable for this special artist as it was for the lute players in the past, awaiting the “Suite.”
In order to create the warm connection with his public that he treasures, Dyens prefers to announce his program from the stage, as the evening unfolds.
This creates an interesting link between the world of jazz and those classical lovers who have a taste for musical innovation.
I, for one, am intrigued by what we'll hear!
I recently also had program news of a more concrete nature. The outstanding French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie, an extraordinary musician renowned for his Chopin, is keeping extremely busy in this Chopin year (March 1, 2010 marked the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin's birth). Spivey Hall pianophiles will recall Louis' triumphant debut here, when he astounded us with an immensely rewarding performance of the complete Chopin Etudes, brought to life with tremendous panache and jaw-dropping feats of virtuosity.
For his return on Sunday, October 17, 2011 at 3 PM, he offered Spivey Hall several choices of repertoire, including another great all-Chopin program, interweaving Nocturnes and Impromptus and culminating with Chopin's majestic Sonata No. 3 in B minor, and this was happily agreed almost a year ago.
But (as my tombstone will read), "Artists and programs subject to change." Louis has embarked on an ambitious multi-year project of recording Chopin's solo piano works for the Chandos label, in a series of very carefully-conceived programs that mix and match repertoire in a synergistic way, such that the juxtaposition of works heightens the listener's appreciation of each, and the overall artistic result is greater than the sum of the parts. (This is what someone profoundly familiar with this repertoire, as Louis truly is, can achieve, and the results can be fascinating.) The program offered to Spivey Hall and originally announced was tied to these recording plans, and because these plans have changed, the repertoire he's performing this fall has also changed. I should note that in addition the solo recitals he's giving this fall, he's being welcomed by many orchestras as soloist in Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor...and there are, indeed, limits to how much repertoire any pianist can carry in a given period, even for someone with near super-human abilities.
Fear not -- we will still have an superbly attractive all-Chopin program to look forward to: the four Scherzos, complemented by related Nocturnes, and the F-sharp major Barcarolle, Op. 60. The Scherzos offer up some of Chopin's most dazzling and inspired writing, with fiery openings, lyrical middle sections, and blistering finales that vividly demonstrate why Chopin was such an original composer for the piano, and justly celebrated not solely for his virtuosity, but also for the depths of Romantic expression he could summon. The Scherzos conjure up excitement through their technical fireworks, as well as a big build-up and release of dramatic tension. By contrast, the Nocturnes, while also pulsating with life, are less aggressive, and dwell more extensively on the reflective, atmospheric, inner world of Chopin's creative genius. The Barcarolle (reminiscent of Venetian gondolas in the moonlight), which separates two Nocturne/Scherzo pairings in the first half of the program, has an expansive tendency that is at first suggested, but ultimately fully realized, moving gloriously upward and outward in spirit.
All of this is first-rate Chopin. The four Scherzos and most of the Nocturnes he'll perform are featured in Volume 1 of his Chandos Chopin cycle, and his playing on this CD is simply exhilarating. I wouldn't doubt there might be some marvelous encores, too. No one who loves beautiful solo piano music should miss Louis Lortie's recital, which promises to be one of the great artistic highlights of Spivey Hall's Twentieth Anniversary Season.
And sometimes, no one knows what the program will be until the audience is seated and listening to the music. That's the case with many jazz artists, and it's true in the instance of the remarkable French guitarist Roland Dyens, who makes his Spivey Hall debut this Sunday, October 3, 2010, at 3 PM. When I requested a program a few weeks ago from his manager (which ordinarily we would publish on our website and in the program book), I received the following, and I think the phrase "Classical player in his fingers, Jazz player in his mind" rather aptly sums up what our audience may expect from this multi-talented musician, who speaks five languages fluently and whose artistry cannot be easily compartmentalized.
Roland Dyens
CONCERT PROGRAM
Roland Dyens is unique in the classical guitar world, in that he always starts his concerts with an improvised piece. Each of these spontaneous compositions is different from his last concert or his next. You and he will experience this first piece of music together, for the first time.
Classical player in his fingers, Jazz player in his mind ...
In the world of jazz, the notion of a concert program does not exist. Roland Dyens rarely gives prior notice of the pieces that he will play in recital. It is his way of creating the best possible atmosphere, by taking into account his audience, the acoustics of the hall and especially his deep desire to be true to his feelings at the moment that he actually interprets the music.
In the same way, the improvisation is a sort of “tuning in” process, a prelude that is as indispensable for this special artist as it was for the lute players in the past, awaiting the “Suite.”
In order to create the warm connection with his public that he treasures, Dyens prefers to announce his program from the stage, as the evening unfolds.
This creates an interesting link between the world of jazz and those classical lovers who have a taste for musical innovation.
I, for one, am intrigued by what we'll hear!
I recently also had program news of a more concrete nature. The outstanding French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie, an extraordinary musician renowned for his Chopin, is keeping extremely busy in this Chopin year (March 1, 2010 marked the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin's birth). Spivey Hall pianophiles will recall Louis' triumphant debut here, when he astounded us with an immensely rewarding performance of the complete Chopin Etudes, brought to life with tremendous panache and jaw-dropping feats of virtuosity.
For his return on Sunday, October 17, 2011 at 3 PM, he offered Spivey Hall several choices of repertoire, including another great all-Chopin program, interweaving Nocturnes and Impromptus and culminating with Chopin's majestic Sonata No. 3 in B minor, and this was happily agreed almost a year ago.
But (as my tombstone will read), "Artists and programs subject to change." Louis has embarked on an ambitious multi-year project of recording Chopin's solo piano works for the Chandos label, in a series of very carefully-conceived programs that mix and match repertoire in a synergistic way, such that the juxtaposition of works heightens the listener's appreciation of each, and the overall artistic result is greater than the sum of the parts. (This is what someone profoundly familiar with this repertoire, as Louis truly is, can achieve, and the results can be fascinating.) The program offered to Spivey Hall and originally announced was tied to these recording plans, and because these plans have changed, the repertoire he's performing this fall has also changed. I should note that in addition the solo recitals he's giving this fall, he's being welcomed by many orchestras as soloist in Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor...and there are, indeed, limits to how much repertoire any pianist can carry in a given period, even for someone with near super-human abilities.
Fear not -- we will still have an superbly attractive all-Chopin program to look forward to: the four Scherzos, complemented by related Nocturnes, and the F-sharp major Barcarolle, Op. 60. The Scherzos offer up some of Chopin's most dazzling and inspired writing, with fiery openings, lyrical middle sections, and blistering finales that vividly demonstrate why Chopin was such an original composer for the piano, and justly celebrated not solely for his virtuosity, but also for the depths of Romantic expression he could summon. The Scherzos conjure up excitement through their technical fireworks, as well as a big build-up and release of dramatic tension. By contrast, the Nocturnes, while also pulsating with life, are less aggressive, and dwell more extensively on the reflective, atmospheric, inner world of Chopin's creative genius. The Barcarolle (reminiscent of Venetian gondolas in the moonlight), which separates two Nocturne/Scherzo pairings in the first half of the program, has an expansive tendency that is at first suggested, but ultimately fully realized, moving gloriously upward and outward in spirit.
All of this is first-rate Chopin. The four Scherzos and most of the Nocturnes he'll perform are featured in Volume 1 of his Chandos Chopin cycle, and his playing on this CD is simply exhilarating. I wouldn't doubt there might be some marvelous encores, too. No one who loves beautiful solo piano music should miss Louis Lortie's recital, which promises to be one of the great artistic highlights of Spivey Hall's Twentieth Anniversary Season.
posted by Spivey Hall at 7:01 PM
2 Comments:
Do you know the second encore piece Louis Lortie played on the Oct 17 2010 concert? I only recognized the first encore; I loved the second one but don't know which number it is (I'm guessing it's an etude). Thanks.
Hi Rusty...Louis Lortie's second encore was (yes) another Etude. His first encore was the first of the Op. 25 Etudes; his second encore was No. 4 of the Op. 10 Etudes. Louis Lortie keeps these extremely challening Etudes in his fingers year to year because (as he told me) "they make all other problems in playing go away." If you like the Chopin Etudes, try to get (possibly second-hand on eBay or such) his early Chandos CD of the complete Etudes, and treat yourself to some true bliss: the C-minor Etude (i.e., the last) of the Op. 25 set, which is sheer poetry. I've listened to more than a dozen recordings, and none comes close to what Lortie achieves in grace and expression.
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