Philzuid

Autumn is in full swing, but Philzuid warms hearts with orchestral masterpieces by Ravel, Saint-Saëns, and Franck. Symphonic music with a delightful twist. Twentieth-century composer Maurice Ravel and other innovators cheerfully flouted the rules. They turned the symphonic concert form upside down and made music history. Ravel, for example, created unexpected sound poetry full of fairy-tale images. His suite Ma Mere l’Oye (Mother Goose) began as an intimate piano work for four hands, but grew into an enchanting orchestral work. In this five-part work, Ravel takes us through the world of classic fairy tales by Perrault and others. From Sleeping Beauty to Beauty and the Beast, the composer conjured up a dream world that is both childishly innocent and adult sophistication with subtle timbres and refined orchestration, Ravel conjured up a dream world that is both childishly innocent and maturely sophisticated.

Ravel originally wrote his Piano Concerto for the Left Hand for the legendary one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein. This scion of the renowned Wittgenstein family (his younger brother Ludwig is a famous philosopher) lost his right arm during the First World War. Countless composers, including Britten and Prokofiev, subsequently wrote piano works for him, purely for the left hand. Ravel’s sparkling piano concerto for the left hand has become one of the French impressionist’s most popular works. Especially for Philzuid, pianist Jonathan Fournel, winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition 2021, will be putting his left hand to work.

Philzuid complements the program with the wildly popular Danse macabre and the lesser-known Bacchanale by Camille Saint-Saëns. A special curiosity is César Franck’s rarely performed symphonic poem Le chasseur maudit. In this suspenseful work, Franck sets to music the demonic hunt for a cursed count.

Program

Ravel – Ma Mère l’Oye
Ravel – Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D
Saint-Saëns – Danse macabre, op. 40
Franck – Le chasseur maudit
Saint-Saëns – Bacchanale from Samson et Dalilah