VIVALDI VARIATIONS

VIVALDI VARIATIONS

world premiere, 25th, 26th September 2019

Spellbound Contemporary Ballet & Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg

Production: Spellbound Contemporary Ballet ,  Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg with the contribution of the Italian  Ministry of Heritage and Culture in collaboration with the Italian Embassy of Luxembourg and cult!ur partner, c/o Norddeutsche Konzertdirektion Melsine Grevesmühl GmbH

 

  

VIVALDIANA

Choreography Mauro Astolfi

Music Antonio Vivaldi

Lighting design and set concept Marco Policastro

Costumes Mélanie Planchard

Assistant choreographer Alessandra Chirulli 

 

SEASONS

Choreography  Jean Guillaume Weis & dancers

Music Max Richter recomposition of  Antonio Vivaldi, The four Seasons

Lighting design Marco Policastro

Set concept Mélanie Planchard

Costumes Mélanie Planchard

Assistant choreographer Alessandra Chirulli

 

 

ORCHESTRE DE CHAMBRE DE LUXEMBOURG 

For thirty-seven years, thanks to the tireless energy and determination
of its founder and mentor, Professor Joseph Groben, as well as the unfailing support of the Ministry of Culture and its partners, the orchestra has had the privilege of performing on numerous occasions, accompanying prestigious soloists as well as major choirs; the orchestra is also an official ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg abroad.
The extensive experience gained by the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxem- bourg over the years has endowed it with all the key strengths that enable it today to continue its ongoing missions, but also — and more importantly, through the rigorous work and unfail- ing commitment of each and every one of its members — to open new paths, taking bold routes through the seasons to come, and to pledge to continue their intense endeavour to reach out to a diverse, demanding public, both within Luxembourg and internationally.
The chamber formation, which is flexible in terms of the numbers of members who participate in each performance, is fully determined to share the wealth of modes of musical expression of our times with the public. Collaborative work with artists from
a number of very varied musical hori- zons, including jazz, world music, and variety, along with new approaches with diversified forms of expression (theatre, dance, multimedia and more) bring formidable artistic contributions that feed into what always was and will remain the traditional orchestra reper- toire: baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary works, and most notably, first performances of Luxembourg composers.
The ensemble has reached a peak of ex- cellence over the years, the fruit of the continued work of their principal con- ductors, such as David Reiland, Nicolas Brochot and Pierre Cao, to name only the most recent among them.
Today, Jean Muller is the artistic direc- tor of the orchestra, which plays under the baton of its chef conductor, Florian Krumpöck.
The OCL is in residence at the Kin- neksbond in Mamer.
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Guillaume holds the High Patronage of the Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg. 

LES THÉÂTRES DE LA VILLE DE LUXEMBOURG 

The eclectic programming of the Théâtres de la Ville strives to represent all that is played, sung and danced on stage to the highest quality, and respond to the needs of its ever-growing audience. With a programme focused on quality and diversity, the Théâtres de la Ville have forged a solid reputation with their international partners over the years and have been able to establish collaborations with many other prestigious presenting houses and festivals. The Théâtres de la Ville aim to nurture the creative vitality of the national scene by actively involving local talent in international co-productions. Furthermore, considerable effort is invested to enable homegrown projects to tour abroad by constantly nurturing partnerships with other European venues. This strategy of blending ‘home’ creations with international co-productions has enabled the Grand Théâtre and the Théâtre des Capucins to increase the visibility of Luxembourg both in the Greater Region and throughout Europe, and also enabled young Luxembourgish artists to work internationally by promoting them beyond the borders, thanks to excellent relationships with its partners. 

 

CHOREOGRAPHERS NOTES

BY MAURO ASTOLFI

In this new project the main idea is to work on a partial reworking and integration of Vivaldi’s universe as a brilliant composer with some aspects of his personality as a common man, a rebel and out of the box. From this suggestion I tried to translate into movement some of Vivaldi’s creations to recount once again his talent, his ability to reinvent, in his time, baroque music. Just as Vivaldi was absolutely aware of going well beyond the limits of histime, in a world of rationality, he also didn’t wor- ry in the slightest about going against the grain, whichis exactly what made him such a genius. This sparked the idea of reworking his musical architec- ture totry to restore Vivaldi’s distinctly unique characteristics to the piece. The aspect which interests me, andwhich I enjoy portraying, is the enormous quantity of hearsay which revolved around him at the time. Among them were tales of Vivaldi the priest who suddenly left the altar as he was conducting mass and running into the sacristy to write the musical mo-tif which he had in mind at that very moment…to thenreturn to finish the Eucharist. He was singled out during the inquisition, but luckily was deemed to be amusician and thus mad, eventually only prohibited from holding mass. This anecdote provided me with an insurmountable source of inspiration, shaping a dance-based study which combines the differentaspects of Vivaldi’s universe, balancing the pure- ly artistic side with the most theatrical, and at times even farcical, human ten- dencies. Vivaldi was the first musician to compose with the precise purpose ofstimulating public taste. Not indulging, but stimulating.

BY JEAN-GUILLAUME WEIS 

Listening to Richter’s version of The Four Seasons, I felt to start with that
it was a rather facile exercise, topical and unimportant. But as I continued listening I moved on past my pre- judgment and the love that I felt for the various rediscovered versions that I had known since I was a child. And I found a truly beautiful work which made me want to choreograph it.
For each season, moods and colours come to the fore, highlighting the very perception of the seasons and their variations. I want to interpret each note and each movement differ- ently with the methods I use. Danced, played, performed with a com- bination of movement, gestures, light and effects, the colours of the seasons add to the moods that affect us – they are so specific to each season, even though they are still variable within their season.
Since dance and music are traditional partners, the Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra will be playing Richter’s version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons live, so that the music can be experienced in fusion with the dancing.
In this project, I hope to express the multiple facets of what I feel when I listen to The Four Seasons; the different moods, of course – the colours, we might say – but above all what the various compositions give rise to in my imagination: an imaginary world full of original and unexpected proposi- tions, a particular way of reflecting the music.
Since Vivaldi’s original was the start- ing point for the project, probing the work via Richter’s surprising interpre- tation of it will enable me to propose a suite of tableaux – not the same as a mere interpretation or representation of the notes of the music. By contrast, the music and dance combine to create a new, mutually enriched entity, and a new artistic gesture.
The feelings of moroseness, joy, energy, or withdrawal into thoughtfulness are not limited to any particular season. How can these feelings be made to come across – by what means, by what artistic gesture? That will be the sur- prise and the challenge I hope to take up with the dancers, in narrating The Four Seasons in an unexpected way, allowing a new reading of this refresh- ing piece of music. A ‘je ne sais quoi’ that all in all explains why these musical moments – these ‘songs’ – have become smash hits!

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