Berlioz, Grand Symphonie Funèbre et triomphale - François-Xavier Roth, Les Siècles

Jean-Victor Schnetz: Combat devant l'hôtel de ville, 1830

Berlioz  Grand Symphonie Funèbre et triomphale, with François-Xavier Roth, and Les Siècles, continuing their Concert Monstre at the Pierre Boulez Salle of the Philharmonie de Paris. For Part One, "Blazing Liberté" please read my review here.  The two parts of the programme worked together well, the revolutionary visions of the first part reinforced by the solemnity of the second. Ideals are not won easily, and cannot be taken for granted.  The symphony was written in 1840, marking the anniversary of the July Revolution of 1830.  Just eight years later, the February Revolution of 1848 would change things yet again, ushering in the Second Republic.  
Berlioz's  Grand Symphonie Funèbre et triomphale reflects older traditions than modern symphonic form.  It is a ceremonial march, scored for wind instruments and percussion, instruments which would have been used in military situations. Berlioz initially used the term "Symphonie militaire", adapting it for the occasion of the re-interment of the remains of those killed in the July Revolution.  Though members of Les Siècles remain seated, the instruments they play are mobile, and could have been carried and played while marching. Period instruments, with their more natural, earthy sounds, give performance a human touch, and underline the sense of forward movement that propels the symphony towards its glorious conclusion.  

The Marche funèbre flowed with a powerful, affirmative pulse, drumstrokes and the wail of ophecliedes to the fore, lower brass followed by higher winds, as if marching in military formation. The second theme, (flutes, oboes, clarinets) offered brief retrospective before fiercely dominant chords introduced the next section, bassoons, trombones, ophecliedes, marching at a pace that increases in depth and intensity as it proceeds, punctuated by steady drumstrokes, the surge crowned with the crash of cymbals. In the Oraison funèbre, a fanfare - nine trombones in phalanx - supported by horns and trumpets, the trombone soloist above them as orator, positioned so his instrument could call out as if into vast distance, echoed at times by lighter winds.  Fragments of Berlioz's unfinished opera Les Francs-Juges were used in this movement, so the "oratory" quality of the trombone solo may have its origins in music for voice.  The trombone may be wordless, but its expressiveness is deeply poignant.

The final movement, the Apothéose, rises seamlessly from what has gone before. A march picks up, now brighter and faster paced, a march of exuberant triumph.  Berlioz used the pavilion chinois, a version of the Turkish crescent, but more elaborate, with rolls of bells under a cap (shaped like a pagoda) to further concentrate the sound.  Most orchestras use simpler versions which aren't nearly so impressive. These instruments symbolized victory, the incorporation of foreign elements by conquest.  In this version of the symphony, Roth uses the option of a second orchestra, (the Jeune Orchestre Européen Hector Berlioz) addding string colour, expanding the symphony still further from military form.  Roth  also utilizes the choirs, who served so well in the first part ofthis Concert monstre.  The voices burst forth in unison, with such precision that the effect was explosive, like a canonnade in sound.  "Gloire! Gloire ! Gloire et triomphe!". Not for nothing is this finale an apotheosis, and in this performance it was positively ablaze. It doesn't last nearly long enough. Roth and his forces repeated it as an encore. 

Liberté ! - Berlioz Concert Monstre - F X Roth, Les Siècles Part One

Berlioz Concert Monstre with François-Xavier Roth, and Les Siècles and a cast of hundreds, livestreamed from the Philharmonie de Paris (link here). "Concert Monstre" was the title of a concert Berlioz presented in 1844, where performers (over 100) outnumbered the audience.  Roth's Concert Monstre employs closer to 500, with two orchestras and six choirs but the acoustic of the Pierre Boulez Salle handles such forces well, even at full volume.  But this was a "Concert Monstre" in another sense, too,  since it was a grand extravaganza designed for maximum impact. In the first half, spectacular paeans to progress and liberty - L'Impériale, Chant de chemins de fer, Le Temple universal, topped by the Hymne Marseillaise. In the second half, the Grand Symphonie Funèbre et triomphale.

"Du peuple entier, les âmes triomphantes ont tressailli comme au cri du destin !" - the choirs sang, getting L'Impériale (H129, 185) off with a blazing start. Ostensibly, the  text celebrates the revival of the imperial dynasty under Napoléan III, but this is an empire with roots in revolution : the real hero here is the French nation itself, and its people. This "Concert Monstre" was also hommage to Berlioz himself. Berlioz was literary : he loved words on the page as much as in the theatre. When he used text, it was often integral to his music.  The concert included spoken quotations from Berlioz's own writings, and commentary.  The speakers were clearly heard, again demonstrating the merits of the Pierre Boulez Salle. 

Thus the Chant de chemins de fer (H110, 1850), a cantata for voice, orchestra and chorus, with tenor Julien Dran.  The text, by Jules Janin, expresses the exhilration of new technology, the coming of railways and the "merveilles de l’industrie". Berlioz wrote the piece very rapidly, taking time off from working on Le Damnation de Faust. Perhaps there are connections : just as Faust flies through the skies, trains carried people through the landcape at what were then almost unimaginable speeds.  Even more pertinently,  Goethe's Faust made his pact with Méphistofeles in order to gain knowledge which might save mankind. This creates a sub-context for the cantata, connecting it to Berlioz's interest in Saint-Simonian ideology, and to the idea of progress through an economic order based on industry.  To Berlioz, phrases like "Pour vous, ouvriers, La couronne est prête" would have had extra meaning. This intensifies the sense of excitement which Berlioz builds into the setting. The rhythms may replicate the chugging of motors and movement of wheels, but the strong sense of forward propulsion might also evoke the thrill of social revolution. One might even detect faint echoes of the Marseillaise. "Que de montagnes effacées! Que de rivières traversées! Travail humain, fécondante sueur!". In the strophe which mentions". The lines grow hushed, the choruses singing of spirits descending into tombs, as they greet the dawn of a new age. Thus the chorus repeats each word of the soloist : "La Paix ! le Roi! L'ouvrier! La patrie", with a fervour that's almost religious. On this happy day, the laurels go to the "Soldats de la paix, C’est votre victoire; C’est à vous la gloire De tant de bienfaits." The final strophe was delivered with almost explosive force, Dran's voice ringing out like shining clarion. 

In Le Temple universal (H137, op 28, before 1861)  Berlioz returns, towards the end of his life, to idealism. In this orchestration, by Yves Chauris, male and female choruses combine, reinforcing the concept that an enlightened Europe should unite, beyond frontiers, to embrace "Le grand hymne de notre liberté!"  An appropriate hymn for present times !  Roth is no fool : He has often shown courage when expressing his convictions. To press the point still further, Berlioz's orchestration for large orchestra, soloist and chorus of the Marseillaise (H 51a), written in the wake of the July Revolution of 1830.  What an experiece this must have been in the Pierre Boulez Salle ! Everyone standing who could - the orchestra, the chorus, the audience. When Dran sang the solo passage, the orchestra seemed to well around him. The Choeurs et orchestres des Grandes Ecoles,Choeur Sorbonne Université, Choeur de la Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris,Choeur CalligrammesChoeur des Universités de Paris, and Choeur InChorus (Chorus master Frédéric Pineau) were joined by informal singers in the choir stalls, ordinary people, some singing from memory, and no doubt a few in the audience.  That is what a Marseillaise should be about - drawing the people together. "Amour sacré de la Patrie, Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Liberté, Liberté eg tes défenseurs ! Combats avec tes défenseurs!".  At this point in history, it seems that the forces of freedom, liberty and genuine democracy are being destroyed, by technological manipulation,  intolerance, and pig-headed stupidity.  We need the Marseillaise. I played this over and over, loudly. My son popped in. "Wow!", he said "That's fantastic!"  

My review of Part 2 of this Concert Monstre when François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles do Grand Symphonie Funèbre et triomphale  is HERE! Please enjoy

Off on adventures ! François-Xavier Roth, Les Siècles, all Berlioz livestream Paris

Livestreamed from the Philharmonie de Paris, François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles in an all-Berlioz programme featuring Berlioz Harold en Italie, with Overtures from Benvenuto Cellini, from  Le Carnaval Romain op 9, and Béatrice et Bénédict and the sections "Roméo seul" and "Grande fête chez Capulet" from Roméo et Juliette op 17

A Romantic Harold en Italie op 16 H68 1834 in the true sense of the term "Romantic". Roth and Les Siècles capture the aesthetic of the early 19th century when wild dreams, adventure and concepts of freedom and individuality transformed European culture.  The modern use of the term "romantic" is a dumbing-down of the Romantic vision : we need to re-engage with what Romanticism was to appreciate Berlioz and other composers of his time. That is what "historically informed performance" really is : not instruments per se but performance practice that grows from an understanding of a composer and his influences.  In the case of Berlioz, this is particularly important since Berlioz was fascinated by new instrumental colours. His Grand Traité d’Instrumentation et d’Orchestration Modernes - note the word "modernes" was published at around the same time as Harold en Italie was written, so Les Siècles use instruments from the time in which Berlioz was working.  The result is brighter, cleaner, less "polluted":  Byron and his hero Harold travelling in landscapes still unexplored and unknown.  Roth, his orchestra and Tabea Zimmermann the soloist, make Harold en Italie feel fresh and new, as it might have when it was new.

"Berlioz", Roth has said, "like other innovative orchestrators, brought out the best qualities of the instruments he had at his disposal at the time. He kept up with the latest developments in instrument making and, like a chef, was keen to use the right ingredient to season his musical recipe. It’s really exciting to encounter the original flavours of the instruments of his time because you realise almost instantly what these new combinations of timbres were........"With Harold en Italie, things are much more complex: the viola is not a concertante soloist, as it would be in a Romantic concerto, but rather a musical character, a narrator, an actor in the story of Harold that is related to us. Berlioz

invented a genuinely new role here in the relationship between the soloist and the orchestra."

In the Romantic aesthetic, heroes are loners in a vast landscape, accentuating the monumental challenges before them. Berlioz's first

movement is titled "Harold aux montagnes". Ominous figures loom up in the orchestra, ascendant lines stretching outwards. When Zimmermann enters, her line is quietly confident, garlanded by harp and winds. Just as the hero engages with the panorama, the viola engages with the orchestra : a good balance here, the soloist not overwhelmed by larger forces. The movement ends with a sense of adventure. In the "Marche des pèlerins", the understated melodic line in the orchestra suggests the humility of pilgrims, singing as they journey. Thus the arppegiated chords, the viola beside the orchestra.

In the third movement, the use of period instruments brings out the distinctive timbres and rhythms of folk music in the serenade and

saltarello. The dances become drama in the "Orgie des Brigandes". Brigands, like gypsies in 19th century folklore, represent "natural"

forces, freedom versus inhibition, danger versus comfort. Thus the quicksilver energy with which Les Siècles brings this movement to life :

even the quieter figure before the entry of the viola bristles with anticipation.

Roth and Les Siècles have recorded Berlioz Harold en Italie with Tabea Zimmermann, recently released by Harmonia Mundi  coupled with an equally individual  Les Nuits d'été op 7 with baritone Stéphane Degout. (Please read more here).

At the Philharmonie de Paris live, to highlight the sense of"things to come" Roth and Les Siècles presented Harold en Italie with a group of Overtures from Benveuto Cellini, from  Le Carnaval Romain op 9, and Béatrice et Bénédict . Curtain raiser after curtain raiser!  Then "Roméo seul" and "Grande fête chez Capulet" from Roméo et Juliette op 17.All performed with Roth's characteristic zest.  A programme that made me think about Berlioz as innovator and man of the theatre in every sense. Music can be thrilling as drama even when it's not attached to an opera or larger work. As an encore,  Roth and Les Siècles concluded with the Hungarian March from Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust op 24, for which Zimmerman sat in with the orchestra’s violists. Catch the livestream on the Philharmonie de Paris website until June 2019.

Eclectic Gamelan Debussy and Boulez - François-Xavier Roth, Paris

François-Xavier Roth was today awarded the Legion d'Honneur for his services to culture. Congratulations, and well deserved cheers !  Yesterday afternoon, he conducted another brilliantly eclectic programme with Les Siècles, at the Philharmonie de Paris screened live,  bringing out the connections between Javanese gamelan, Debussy and Pierre Boulez.  Unusual, but extremely rewarding, so please  make time to listen (archived on arte.tv and also on the Philharmonie de Paris website) because this concert has been put together with insight and great musical understanding. The roots of modern music lie deep in the past, and in forms beyond the western European core.

The photo at right shows some of the Javanese dancers who appeared at the Exposition Universelle of 1889, a world's fair celebrating modern progress.  Europe was looking outwards, inspired by exotic, alien cultures.. A "new" baroque age, in many ways, full of confidence and adventure.  France,  Belgium and the Netherlands had colonies in Asia and Africa,  and while they weren't any better as rulers than some, they were genuinely fascinated by the diversity and richness of the cultures they encountered.  Debussy visited the Indonesian pavilion, which featured large replica village, so authentic that the buildings were constructed by genuine Javanese builders, using materials they brought with them. For entertainment, there was a large gamelan orchestra, and troupes of dancers, not only Javanese but Balinese and Sumatran.  Debussy responded to their music as a musician would, not for the exoticism so much as for the ideas on pitch, intervals and structure. 

And so this concert at the Philharmonie began with the Ensemble de Gamelan Sekar-Wangi, sounds building up so gradually that some in the audience didn't realize the show had started.  Unlike western music, a lot of Asian music is ambient sound, part of ordinary life, so you listen in different ways.  This performance included two singers, their lines weaving semi independently of the orchestral line, creating multiple layers of sound.  Gamelan performance is intuitive and semi-improvised, the performers adapting to one another.  The music moves as if in procession, the different components, co-operating, changes marked by gradual, mutually agreed changes of direction. Think ricefields, terraced up sloping hills, teeming with water, bugs and fish, harvested and re-irrigated. a lot of Asian music has spiritual and ritual connections, so this awareness of space does matter.  

Eventually, like Debussy, Messiaen and Benjamin Britten would respond to Asian music in their own terms.  One day I hope Roth will conduct Britten's Prince of the Pagodas.  That's a piece that really cries out for someone who understands how the music works, and why.  Please read my analysis of it HERE.  In 1950's Britain,  it was misunderstood, not helped by awkward choreography.  Some years ago there was a much better Japanese production, but its full potential has yet to be tapped.  Go for it, François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles, and use modern dance.  The time for a really good Prince of the Pagodas has come ! 

 With the last echoes of the gamelan began Boulez Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna, the artillery of orchestral gongs taking up from the gongs of the gamelan and the beaten metal bonang.  Boulez writes for  eight unequal instrumental groups, moving at different paces and in rhythms,  just as mourners follow a cortege, seemingly disparate but with common purpose. In the Philharmonie, the differences are emphasized by having the groups playing in different positions around the main stage.  Wooden, beaten percussion - shades of the gamelan xylophone - functions like a heartbeat, often harshly hollow.  Sudden  interruptions, flurries, changes and pauses that feel organic, like a brave heart that's failing but rallying despite the odds.  Brass and wind chords blare, radiating out into space, as if exploring distance and searching the unknown.  The piece is a funeral march, of course, but also serves to structure time and its inevitable passing.  Thus the small trickling sounds, tick, tick, tick against the strong brass crescendi.  Cymbal crashes echo, the winds and brass wail, once more, in unison, the  sounds lingering after the act of playing has ceased. which is part of mreaning - Maderna is dead, but not forgotten, and neither, now is Boulez.  

After Boulez, Debussy Three Nocturnes and La Mer, again connecting old and new. Last Thursday Roth conducted the Nocturnes at the Barbican, London, with the London Symphony Orchestra. Please read what I wrote about that, and its modernism, here.  With Les Siècles and Les Cris de Paris at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Nocturnes sounded even more refined and sophisticated, sensitive as this orchestra is to the finest nuances of timbre.  a very different sound, but exquisite.  My imagination blossomed, thinking back to Asia and dreams of new horizons.  Two very different Nocturnes in four days - what a treat !   Roth will be conducting La Mer with the LSO in a few weeks.  He's done it numerous times but it never hurts to hear it again, and again.  For an encore  the fanfare that concludes Debussy's Première Suite d'Orchestre premiered in its new performing edition by Les Siècles in 2012.  Please read about that HERE.   

Jansons, BRSO Philharmonie Paris : Mahler, Sommer, Rachmaninov

Live from the Philharmonie de Paris, in the Grande Salle Pierre Boulez, Mariss Jansons conducts the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. in a programme they'll be touring in six cities in Europe in the next few weeks.

Highlight, for me was Mahler Kindertotenlieder. Gerhild Romberger substituted at short notice for Waltraud Meier, but I was pleased, since Meier, though she's greatly loved, isn't quite what she was .In this repertoire, Romberger is superb, wiyh the sensitivity that marks a true recitalist. Kindertotenlieder deals with painful  emotions. Can there be any grief more difficult to deal with than the death of children?  The poet, Friedrich Rückert, lost two children in very short succession. He wrote from personal experience when he described looking downwards "auf die Stelle, näher nach der Schwelle, dort, wo würde dein lieb Gesichtchen sein. Wenn du freudenhelle trätest mit herein". Although the songs are so familiar that moment still knocks me out.  You don't make up details like that unless you've been there.  Yet what is striking about these songs is their sincerity.  No overblown pathos but instead an unselfconscious directness evident in the sparseness of the scoring.

As a group, the five songs of Kindertotenlieder form a prototype symphony. Meaning is thus embedded into structure. The children will not develop into adults, the cycle will not grow, but remains suspended in miniature. A solo oboe sets the plaintive tone, colours added with utmost delicacy: glockenspiel, for example, at once child-like and fragile.  Kindertotenlieder is not theatrical.  Romberger's well-modulated delivery evokes the images of darkness and light which suffuse the cycle. She sings with an inwardness that imparts her words with grave grandeur.  The turbulence in the final song is disturbing: symphonies shouldn't end with scherzo-like violence!  But then, neither should children die. Note the piling up of sibilants : Saus, Braus, Haus. Then a kind of transcendence. "Von keinem Sturm erschrecket, von Gottes Hand bedecket."  Rounded tones, tenderness, voice and orchestra cradled in a kind of lullaby.  

Before Kindertotenlieder, Jansons conducted Vladimir Sommer (1921-1997),  Antigone: Overture to the Tragedy of Sophocles (1957).  It's certainly turbulent, strings whirling like demented Furies, the winds screaming long planes of sound that shatter into frantic staccato, trumpets blazing forth.  It's dramatic, as the subject would suggest. Yet single instruments like clarinets and oboes fly above the storm, bassoon and muted trumpets leading into a quieter phase.  Purposeful blocks of sound, the call of a flute, later a small solo trumpet, muted.  An explosion of timpani, a single woodwind, then silence.  Since Sommer is new to me, I  checked out what I could,and was mightily impressed by his Vocal Symphony (1958) for contralto, speaker, choir and orchestra.  

Jansons concluded with Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances (1940)  By turns, colourful, spooky, rich and nostalgic, this brought out some very fine playing from the BRSO. This performance is also available on BR Klassik.