Jean-Yves Thibaudet to Perform the Complete Piano Works of Ravel at Tanglewood This Summer

By -

Internationally renowned pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet prides himself on his ability to get lost in a particular composer's oeuvre, mining even obscure works for poetic insights into the writer's intentions. Thibaudet builds seasons around composers; he makes falling in love with their music the centerpiece of his artistic life. In the past decade, Thibaudet has planned programs and albums around composers such as Frédéric François Chopin, Eric Satie, Franz Liszt, Bill Evans, and George Gershwin. This July, Thibaudet will perform the complete piano works of Maurice Ravel over three days of concerts at Tanglewood. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Emmanuel Krivine, will join Thibaudet on the final day. During the three days, Thibaudet will play the first and last compositions of Ravel's lifetime.

Ravel holds special significance for Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Thibaudet's first public orchestral concert at the age of 11 was Ravel's Concerto in G. By age of 15, he had learned the composer's complete piano works. When Thibaudet entered the Paris Conservatory, where Ravel also studied, one of his teachers was Lucette Descaves, a close friend and collaborator of Ravel. Thibaudet writes, "I grew up with her [Descaves] telling us precise things about him [Ravel], that he liked this, he didn't like that, etc.. I felt I knew him. There was a special link. There is still something magical for me when I hear an orchestra bring out the colors in his music. When I play him, I never get tired of it. It's always fresh."

This summer, Thibaudet will also continue performing Liszt, playing the Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. The Liszt celebration, which takes place over the 2011 calendar year, covers a program carefully chosen by Thibaudet over years of experience. His successful solo recital tour included engagements at Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances, and the Berlin Philharmonie, among others. Thibaudet will finish the year this fall aided by mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager with a program of Liszt lieder.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In &quo
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

The Art of String Quartets by Brian Ferneyhough

By -
Image
When an artist sets paint to canvas, there are brush strokes used for different effects. Sometimes those strokes are subtle, imperceptible; they produce works of art like the Mona Lisa . Other times the very obvious nature of the stroke is the art, as in works by Van Gogh. With some composers of music, the notes on the page are their craft. How those notes translate into an aural experience is what defines some composers as great artists. Brian Ferneyhough has a masterful command of the techniques of putting notes on the page. These techniques are sometimes so subtle, even though written in black and white, they escape detection. Some of what he attempts with his music is just that, to escape detection, to bury the framework, diverting the ear away from the structure, so only the music is heard . The subtlety is so fine it is almost imperceptible. Even though he studied at several institutions, he is considered self-taught, studying scores from Boule
Read more