On the evening of May 17, the 2023-2024 Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Resident Artist and French cellist Gautier Capuçon presented the Chinese mainland debut of Ditier's "Distant World" under the baton of conductor Ye Yongshi.
When he first received Yu's invitation, Capuçon was hesitant because the work was very challenging. "It's a work of great significance, whether it's for the orchestra, the cellist or the composer." Yu Long, Music Director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, commented on Dietier's cello concerto "Distant World".
In addition to challenging the "hard bones", her old friend Ye Yongshi also conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to perform Chen Qigang's "Paradise Lost", Ravel's "The Tomb of Coupland" and "Daphne and Chloe" Suite 2, bringing a night full of French style to the Shanghai audience on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France.
The scene of the performance
Duétier, known as the "grandmaster of contemporary French composition", was a perfectionist who allowed only a small part of his work to be published. Feeling that it was difficult to take on the task, Dietier withdrew from the project to compose a music collection for the 100th anniversary of Baudelaire's death, but he still could not resist the poet's artistic inspiration, and named five movements from Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil", "Riddle", "Gaze", "Waves", "Mirror" and "Hymn", to create "Distant World", which has been praised as "one of the most important cello works of the 20th century".
Although Capuçon performed the concerto several times during Dietier's lifetime, it was precisely because of this that he was more cautious. "I remember the first time I played, on his 90th birthday. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and we worked together for five or six years until he died a few years ago. He is very discerning and very fastidious, so I am convinced that every detail he writes is what he wants, and his colors are very typical of Dithier's style. Capuçon said.
The scene of the performance
"Distant Worlds" is difficult for soloists, but it is also difficult for symphony orchestras. A music scholar said: "When playing a concerto, the soloist usually recites the orchestral part, but Dithier can't memorize it at all, the east and west verses, it's a bit 'fragmented'." It is also quite a challenge for the orchestra, and it is necessary to work with the conductor and soloists like a precision instrument to overcome the difficulties of performance. ”
The first time she conducted "Distant World", Ye Yongshi did a lot of homework. She had several days of rehearsals with the band before the soloist joined. "While I was familiar with the details of the score, I also listened to recordings of different cellists, comparing and summarizing the difficult passages so that I could pay more attention to them when Capuçon joined."
Rehearsal scene
To Yip's surprise, the full practice done by the band members in advance played a role, and the rehearsal process went very smoothly. "It was a very efficient rehearsal, and the band was more mature than when I came 10 years ago, and they adapted very quickly to new works or unfamiliar conducting styles."
"Distant World" is very different from the melodic cello concerto that the audience remembers. From the audience's point of view, Yip believes that such a work with a high technical and aesthetic threshold requires the listener to bring "another pair of ears" to discover the subtlety and ingenuity in the orchestration. "For example, the sound effects produced by the superposition of percussion instruments with harp and bass are one of the highlights of the whole piece."
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Image source: Photo by Cai Leilei
Source: Author: Wu Tong