Noseda al frente de la LSO en Barbican © LSO
The prestigious and ever-innovative is touring Spain under the baton of renowned maestro with a wonderful programme that includes works by , , , , and . The soloists are pianist and violinist .
The orchestra will perform at the in Barcelona on Tuesday 17 February, at the Zaragoza Auditorium on 18 February, at the National Music Auditorium in Madrid on 19 February, at the José Iturbi Hall in Valencia on 20 February, and at the Teatro de la in Seville on Saturday 21 February.
Maestro Noseda was kind enough to grant an interview via Zoom from London with mundoclasico.com during rehearsals. Here are his comments:
Juan Carlos Tellechea: Dear Maestro , after spending more than two decades with the Cadaqués Orchestra, you have established a unique and lasting relationship with Spanish musical culture. How does your interpretation of the non-Spanish repertoire you are bringing on this tour with the LSO – particularly the programme of , and – change when you perform it for a Spanish audience in venues such as the , which you know so well?
Gianandrea Noseda: It's always a joy to return to Spain and to play for Spanish audiences. All the Spanish audiences - whenever I have toured with international orchestras - have been very receptive and open to listen to any kind of repertoire. And from previous experience of touring with the LSO in Spain, I think audiences on this tour will enjoy discovering Stravinsky’s Divertimento from the Fairy’s Kiss and Symphony No.2. I think both pieces speak very easily to audiences, especially coupled with Piano Concerto No.2 it will be a very special experience. I know that they will love any kind of music.
: During your time with the Cadaqués Orchestra, you must have developed strong personal relationships with the country's musical community. Are there any specific collaborations or personal moments from that period that influence your approach to touring Spain today with the LSO?
GA: The wonderful thing is that so many of the friendships formed in the Cadaques Orchestra are still alive today, especially with , who is now the boss of Ibermusica but before that he was the general manager of the Cadaques orchestra which organised the competition for young conductors. So we go back decades - since 1994. But you know it’s also thanks to the Competition prize which, though there was no big prize money, it enabled me to conduct so many other Spanish orchestras too. This enabled me to return regularly to Spain and retain these relationships. Plus some of the players originally in Cadaques Orchestra, I have rediscovered in the LSO - eg the principal bassoon player has now been in the LSO for a long time.
So, it’s great to be linking up again with Rachel, or , or others, Juan his wife, Eugenia, and all these people, is an addition reason to rejoice.
JCT: Your previous tour of Spain with the NSO included works by a contemporary American composer () and . This LSO tour includes and in some cities. How do you choose a programme that resonates specifically with Spanish audiences, and how does the LSO's sound in this repertoire differ from that of the NSO?
GA: Both the National Symphony and LSO are great orchestras. For me as Principal Guest with the , it is just amazing looking back at the rostrum of previous conductors who have worked with the orchestra specially in Russian repertoire eg. and . Of course, much of Rachmaninov’s repertoire – whether the piano concertos or symphonies – has become universal worldwide. The LSO is a very virtuosic orchestra – they have an incredible string sound, the brass and woodwinds are spectacular, likewise the percussion and this is thanks to their long history. Both Orchestras were created more or less a century ago – it’s the ’s 95th anniversary currently, so is slightly younger than the LSO! Both orchestras can really present this Russian repertoire in a stupendous way, even if the LSO has the edge in years!
JCT: On the Spanish dates, where Berg's Violin Concerto will be performed with , the work is very expressive and technically demanding. Given your interest in narrative in music, how do you communicate the drama inherent in Berg's score to the orchestra, and what unique contributions does Ms Kopatchinskaja bring to this piece that you haven't found in other soloists?
GA: ’s Violin Concerto is a very lyrical piece, even if it employs the 12- tone system. Nonetheless, audiences connect with it easily. It was written to mark the death of ’s daughter – the dedication is in memory of an angel. Berg quotes a Bach chorale and it carries all the suffering, pain, mourning of a young girl. In fact, I conducted the LSO in the concerto 10/11 years ago with a different soloist. With Patricia, she has an extraordinary narrative power, especially in 20th-Century music which is so natural. The LSO is a perfect orchestra to accommodate and embrace a soloist’s vision. So, I think it will be a very moving experience to hear the concerto coupled with the Debussy’s Nocturnes, impressionism preparing the path to Berg and finishing either with Rachmaninov or Borodin. It makes a very satisfying project. So I am really looking forward to this encounter.
JCT: You will be performing 's Divertimento from The Fairy's Kiss and Borodin's Symphony No. 2. These pieces are programmed less frequently than some of his other more emblematic Russian works. What is your personal connection to these specific compositions, and what do you expect the Spanish audience to discover in them?
GA: The Divertimento from the Fairy's Kiss is taken from a ballet that composed in 1928 – with this version revised into a divertimento in 1949 after Stravinsky had moved to America in 1940 but the original composition dates to much earlier. The story of the ballet is based on a fairy tale - of a boy who is kissed by a fairy and the kiss makes an imprint all through his life and reappears on the eve of his wedding. But the most important aspect is that Stravinsky pays homage to Tchaikovsky, by echoing several little-known works for piano and songs by Tchaikovsky. So, it’s Tchaikovsky through Stravinsky’s looking glass.
is a very intriguing person because his profession was as a scientist primarily, not as a musician. He was a weekend composer who wrote two and a half symphonies (the third is unfinished, as is Prince Igor). His music language is very, very Russian with echoes of Rimsky-Korsakov and Glinka, but yet he has his own distinct voice which is so easy to connect with. Yesterday evening, we performed this programme of the Stravinsky and Borodin at the Barbican, the results were incredible. The audience really loved it – it was not only applause, but appreciation. It might be little-known but audiences connected immediately. Yesterday while I was waiting to go on stage, the memory came back to me of the first time I conducted the Divertimento – it was in 1999 with the Orchestra dell' orchestra. And guess what was in the second half? Borodin’s Symphony No2! So it’s a tried and tested programme – even if last time it was another work other than the Chopin. But it is very interesting that 27 years ago, these are the works chosen for my debut with Santa Cecilia in Rome.
JCT: You have said that most of your work consists of sitting alone with the score. With regard to the programme for your upcoming tour, how have the acoustic properties and unique atmosphere of certain Spanish venues, such as Barcelona's modernist Palau de la Música, influenced your study prior to the tour and your internal vision of the sound you wanted to achieve?
GA: I know all the halls on this this Spanish tour very well - Zaragosa, Valencia, Madrid – they are all fantastic – some of the best acoustics. When I prepare a programme for a tour, I can’t take into consideration the individual acoustics of each hall. But it’s wonderful to be performing at the Palau which was built just before Stravinsky’s Divertimento and just after Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.1,- turn of the century just on the on cusp of modernism. They are all great halls so it's a reason for great joy to play there and to reconnect with old friends up with friends which make these opportunities unmissable.
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