Benjamin Beilman: “In Toulouse, the orchestra is just incredible!”
Benjamin Beilman: “In Toulouse, the orchestra is just incredible!”
The New York prodigy will perform this Thursday, May 26, under the direction of Ryan Bancroft, a very “British” program at the Halle aux grains, with the Orchester National du Capitole de Toulouse. Meet.
You have already played with the ONCT: what memories do you have of it?
I actually played Sibelius in Toulouse five or six years ago. I have wonderful memories of it: the orchestra is just incredible and I can still hear the power of the strings, and this trumpet which played with a ferocity, a phenomenal passion! I remember very professional and welcoming musicians, whom I can’t wait to see again.
You play a very British programme, with the famous Violin Concerto by Benjamin Britt…
It’s a little-known concerto basically, but we’ve started playing it again since its 80th birthday and that’s good, because it’s superb. Britten sent the world to disaster and fled the UK with her companion Peter Pears to Canada in search of a quiet place, but this work is full of nostalgia and that feeling that takes you when you leave when you would like to stay at home… Certain movements evoke the madness, the absurdity of what Britten sees: the end, in particular, is a sort of very solemn procession, a tribute to the soldiers who are about to die or have already died , upsetting. I would add that Britten is one of the greatest composers of his time, and there are elements of Prokofiev, Ravel, even jazz in his work: he had a tremendous openness of mind and his music is not quintessentially British, I think.
What are these Variations of puzzles of Elgar, who complete the program?
This is an astonishing work: a symphony of fourteen variations which are sketches, pieces dedicated by Edward Elgar (1857-1934). The composer writes each variation for a friend, a sort of musical portrait of the people around him. He wrote these Enigma Variations, arguably his best-known work, in 1898 and 1899.
How do you approach a program like this with Ryan Bandcroft? You have little time to rehearse: is great trust between the soloist and the conductor essential?
Sure, but Ryan Bancroft is a great technician – one I’ve never played with, but can’t wait to meet. We both know the score but I confess that I have nothing against a little friction! I think that when you approach a work, it is good to defend your vision of it while listening to what the conductor has to offer: this discussion will no doubt give rise to slightly different views, but which can only be enriching for the concert.
The program is subtitled “The English Enigma”: what are the characteristics of English classical music?
These two works carry with them this very British nostalgia for a bygone era, a somewhat melancholy and romantic evocation of a past where things were simpler, relationships between people less complex. I think the French public, which is also romantic, will appreciate this program.