Tales of the extraordinary take centre stage at this year’s international music festival, at a time when humanity is on the cusp of being consumed by global turmoil and tension. Says director Anton Isselhardt: “Myths and legends tell us a lot about former societies and their spiritual conceptions, beliefs and even fantasies. They are binding tools to learn about our past and they foster a better understanding of the current situation. Some myths and legends also include hidden elements or traces with a certain transcultural character. They demonstrate clearly that behind all fascinating diversity, there is always something in common between us. Music is an ideal medium for turning concrete legends and myths into a more abstract aura, which may then enlighten one’s individual fantasy. In other words, music based on myths and legends enables us to create our own stories in our own minds. This may lead to quite new artistic experiences.”
Here’s Anton’s guide to what not to miss:
7PM NOVEMBER 13 @ INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL, MAO TSE TUNG BLVD: GALA OPENING
Robert Schumann: Fantasy Piece No. 1
“This title promotes a fundamental romantic ideal; the creative expression which arises from Robert Schumann’s unrestricted imagination. Characteristic of this are the sudden emotional changes, a signature of so much of Schumann’s music and which reflect his emotions and mood swings.”
Leoš Janáček: Pohadka
“Pohádka, which means ‘fairytale’ in Czech, is inspired by the poem The Tale of Czar Bendvei, which is itself a modern poetic adaptation of old heroic tales.”
Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei
“Jewish mysticism is devoted to all aspects of Jewish esoteric traditions. Bruch’s composition is based on chanted prayers in the synagogue symbolising the purification of emotions – catharsis – on New Year’s Day.”
Gabriel Fauré: Sicilienne
“Faure was the first prominent composer to write music inspired by Pelléas And Mélisande, a drama by Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck, based on the familiar narrative of forbidden love and reminiscent of the myths of Tristan and Isolde. The third movement of Faure’s orchestral suite is widely considered ‘the one moment of happiness’ shared by Pelléas and Mélisande.”
Sergei Prokofiev: Cello Sonata C-major
“Premiered on March 1950 in the Moscow Conservatory, with Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist and Sviatoslav Richter at the piano, this sonata is a masterpiece; a landmark in the cello and piano repertory.”
Artists: Stephanie Waegener (cello), Bakhtiyor Allaberganov (piano)
7PM NOVEMBER 14 @ META HOUSE, #37 SOTHEAROS BLVD: ARIE ANTICHE
Giulio Caccini: Euridice
“Caccini was one of the lesser-known founders of opera, but one of the most influential creators of the new Baroque style. During this time he also took part in the movement of humanists, writers, musicians and scholars who formed the Florentine Camerata, a group which gathered at the home of Count Giovanni de’Bardi and was dedicated to recovering the lost glory of ancient Greek drama.”
Claudio Monteverdi: The Coronation Of Poppea
“The last and most innovative opera by Monteverdi is one of the first operas to use historical events and people. It describes how Poppea, mistress of Roman Emperor Nero, is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress: one example of how historical events can become mythologised over time.”
George Frederick Handel: Rinaldo
Christof Willibald Gluck: Paris And Helena
“Handel and Gluck developed the court opera throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition, the reform of opera by Gluck paved the way for the composers of the Vienna Classic, such as Mozart, Salieri and Haydn.”
Artists: Mari Jinnai (soprano), Ai Iwasaki (mezzo soprano), Loo Bang Hean (piano)
6PM NOVEMBER 15 @ ST JOSEPH’S CHAPEL, #1782B NATIONAL ROAD 5: GREGORIAN CHANT
Musicologists Dott Alberto Firincielli and Dr Sam Sam-Ang introduce an evening of Gregorian chant, including O Ignee Spiritus, by Hidedgard von Bingen, and Ave Maria.
“Gregorian chant had its beginnings in the early centuries of the Church, becoming fully developed around the 8th and 9th centuries in western and central Europe. Chants were learned first as an oral tradition, in which texts and melodies were sung from memory. An ongoing tradition in Southeast Asia is the Cambodian Buddhist chanting style Smot.”
Artists: Gregorian Chant Choir (Assumption University Bangkok), with conductor Alberto Firrincieli
11AM NOVEMBER 16 @ META HOUSE: PIANO RECITAL
Sergei Prokofjew: Romeo and Juliet Op.7
“Prokofjew was inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet (based on Pyramus and Thisbe from ancient Greek mythology).
Richard Wagner/Franz Liszt: Elsa’s Dream
“Elsa’s Dream has the air of a religious epiphany. Wagner traced the myth of Zeus and Semele, Eros and Psyche, Elsa and Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde, but all, Wagner insists, stand for the same eternal story: the necessity of love. Wagner declared them to be ‘no mere outcome of Christian meditation, but one of man’s earliest poetic ideals’.”
Claude Debussy: Ondine
“As Debussy stated: ‘Music is a free art gushing forth, an open- air art, boundless as the elements, the wind, the sky, the sea.’Ondine, a mythological figure of European tradition, is a water nymph who becomes human when she falls in love with a man, but is doomed to die if he is unfaithful to her.”
Peter Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty
“Tchaikovsky was inspired by The Sleeping Beauty, by the French writer Charles Perrault from 1690, based on the Nordic saga Volsunga.Based on the tradition of the piano masters of the Russian School, Mikhail Pletnev’s piano transcription of The Sleeping Beauty recreates the colour and drama of Tchaikovsky’s orchestral score, within the context of a virtuoso piano solo.”
Artist: Loo Bang Hean (piano)
7PM NOVEMBER 17 @ INTERCONTINENTAL: IMPRESSIONISM AND EROTICISM
Albert Roussel: Pan
“Composer Albert Roussel visited Cambodia in 1909. He spent several years in India and Southeast Asia and these travel experiences deeply affected him. Many of his musical works would reflect his interest in distant, exotic lands, and a strain of exoticism coloured his work.”
Claude Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
“One of Debussy’s most famous orchestral works… considered a turning point in the history of music. Pierre Boulez remarked that ‘The flute of the faun brought new breath to the art of music.’”
Olivier Roussel: Regard de l’église d’amour
“Messiaen’s musical language is a representation of religious symbolism. His mother, Cecile Sauvage, exerted a profound influence upon his life and his music through her poetry. Other influences evident… include birdsong, the influences of nature, Russian music, Greek metrics and Hindu rhythms.”
Jules Massenet: Meditation
“Méditation is an instrumental intermezzo from the opera Thaïs for solo violin.Thaïs is the legend of a hedonistic Egyptian courtesan and a devotée of Venus. She leaves her life of luxury and pleasure to find salvation through God. Massenet’s work is described as bearing a sort of religious eroticism and there have been many controversial productions.”
Artists: Him Savy (flute), Cheak Bunhon (clarinet), Pisey Oum & Mattias Krug (violin), Mari Jinnai (soprano), Sethipanha Khuon (cello), Anton Isselhardt (flute), Rong Sereyvann & Etienne Chenevier (piano)