Exploration and solo journeys have always been the hallmarks of pianist Stephane Ginsburgh. At the centre of this programme of discoveries are two rediscoveries. The first is Denis Pousseur's great literary-inspired masterpiece cycle ‘La Nuit est une folie rouge’ (1998-99), all too rarely heard and which this will be the first complete performance since its creation almost 25 years ago. The second, ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ (1984) by Jean-Louis Libert, is also the work of a composer who has been too discreet for many years. They will resonate with the creations of two young female composers and one male composer: Oren Boneh with a whirling ‘Brick for Stone’, Sarah Defrise with ‘Dead Parrot nr. 1’ challenging the performer's immediate memory, and ‘Welcome’ a piece of musical theatre by Fanny Libert. To introduce this magnificent programme, Stéphane Ginsburg has chosen Nanosonatas Book VI, a very personal, not to say ‘family’, work by one of his favourite composers, Frédéric Rzewski, consisting of pieces dedicated to his children.
Program
Frederic Rzewski
Nanosonates Book VI (2008-9)
Oren Boneh
Brick for stone (2023) premiere
Fanny Libert
Loop Welcome (2023) creation
Sarah Defrise
Dead Parrot I (2023) creation solo version
<-->
Jean-Louis Libert
The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
Denis Pousseur
La Nuit est une Folie rouge (1998-99)
Nanosonatas Book VI
In September 2008, I wrote a play for my son Noam, who was about to turn 18. A month later, it was my daughter Noemi's turn, for her 27th birthday. Then my son Jan, who turned 38 in November. I realised that I had had seven children, including my son Nicolas, who died in 1963 at the age of six weeks. I decided that Book VI [of the Nanosonatas] would be a series of portraits of each of them, in the order of their birthdays, ending with my daughter Esther, who would be 13 in July 2009. One evening we were talking about the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. I asked her what kind of music he could have played to lure all the children away from their families. ‘Easy,’ she said, “something that makes you want to get up and go, like this:” And she sang a melody that I wrote down, which became (slightly modified) the theme for No. 42.
Frederic Rzewski