Creation of the Cello Concerto by Michaël Levinas in Avignon
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Avignon. Opera 3-VI-2022. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Overture to The Clemency of Titus; Michaël Levinas (born in 1949): Concerto for cello and orchestra; Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony n°3 in E flat major op.55 “Eroica”. Henri Demarquette, cello; Avignon-Provence National Orchestra, conductor: Debora Waldman
Co-commissioned by the National Orchestras of Avignon Provence and Cannes, the cello concerto by Michaël Levinas is given in world premiere at the Avignon Opera as part of the new Creative Consortium of which this is the first manifestation.
The traditional overture that begins the evening sets the tone and sound of an orchestra in great form, led by its titular conductor Debora Waldman. Concise and dazzling, the inaugural page of The Mercy of Titusopera seria and the last in Mozart’s catalogue, is priced at high speed, with Debora Waldman underlining the verticality of the lines and the energy that crosses it in a gesture as precise as it is galvanizing.
Michaël Levinas is on stage to present his new work and review the Creative Consortium project of which he is the first beneficiary through the commission of this Cello Concerto. The work invites as soloist Henri Demarquette, an interpreter he knows well since he has already played with him the complete Sonatas for cello and piano by Beethoven.
The orchestral force remains the same (except for the addition of a trombone and its mutes) for this concerto that Levinas wishes to inscribe in the wake of its predecessors: by asking the question “of the melodic and the polyphonic” within a work of writing “which attempts a synthesis between the polyphonic and the harmonic”, he tells us in essence. In the first movement Choir in tears II », immediately begins the experience of strangeness to which he invites us: the cello heard in its over-acute harmonics engages with the strings of the orchestra a polyphony of very flexible lines/vines which run through the space . They slip and tangle before stabilizing on a consonance, like a sort of modern “descant” with microtonal inflections. The interest in this trace left by the sound that dies out – “the cry of sound” – has run through the composer’s writing since his opera The little Prince. In the second movement Tour, one of the horns turns its back to the audience so that the two featured instruments sound face to face, granting interferences and a singular timbre – Levinassian feedback; this repeated sound phenomenon, linking the melodic and the harmonic, is extended and commented on by the orchestra and the soloist in a “responsorial” as well as theatrical form. The third movement, developed, is even more impressive, letting the soloist investigate the characteristics of the sound, partials and pitch instability (beats between frequencies) with his cellist partners from the orchestra while a filtered drone is installed on the double basses. by lead mutes. The sound field reaches its fullness with the entry of the orchestra and the emerging melody of the horn, another chorale of restrained lyricism, modulated by the muted trumpets and trombones. The soloist resurfaces at the end of the movement and continues alone in a cadenza that serves as the concerto’s Epilogue. The page is superb, very chiseled and finely interpreted by Henri Demarquette, where the composer’s thought is embodied in this way of braiding harmony and polyphony (multiphonic sounds and double strings abound) so that the melody is born. The delicacy of the performer’s gesture and the depth of the timbre under his bow allow naked emotion to arise in the silent space of the concert hall.
We know the closeness of Michaël Levinas with Beethoven, whose piano sonatas he undertook to “read” from a very young age. Thus appears on the program for the second part of the evening, the ” Heroic », third symphony of the master of Bonn, obviously put in the repertoire of the orchestra which gives this evening an interpretation drawn with the cord. Concerned about the line and the fluidity of the exchanges, Debora Waldman gives all her impetus to the Allegro con brio, with a touch of haste perhaps, which sometimes harms the foundation and the fullness of the sound. A beautiful architectural vision presides over the Funeral March, one could appreciate the quality of the desks (from the grain of the double basses to the depth of the timpani) and the balance that the conductor establishes within the orchestra, by giving to hear all the components of writing. The Trio within an alert and sparkling Scherzo, confirms the excellence of the horns, already highlighted by Levinas. The Finale is conducted masterfully, where the space unfolds and the theatricality surfaces, between elvish lightness (oboe and luminous flute) and harmonico-rhythmic foundation. The theme – that of a contredanse from the ballet “The Creatures of Prometheus” – is presented with elegance, as is its first variation. The fugue radiates there within the music stands, in the clarity of the polyphony and the incessant rebound of its subject: the vitality of the timbres and characters captures the listener until the final double bar. The conduct is luminous and the responsiveness exemplary of an orchestra challenged tonight by the demands and content of a work in the making.
Michaël Levinas’ concerto will be replayed by the National Orchestras of Cannes and Brittany next fall, by the same soloist and within a renewed program for each of the orchestras.
Photographic credit: © National Orchestra of Avignon Provence
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Avignon. Opera 3-VI-2022. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Overture to The Clemency of Titus; Michaël Levinas (born in 1949): Concerto for cello and orchestra; Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony n°3 in E flat major op.55 “Eroica”. Henri Demarquette, cello; Avignon-Provence National Orchestra, conductor: Debora Waldman
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