Twelfth International Festival of Contemporary Music
MOSCOW FORUM
FRANCOPHONIE
as part of the Year of France in Russia
22–27 March 2010
FRANCOPHONIE is the title of the XII International Festival of Avant-garde Music “Moscow Forum”, held by the Centre for Contemporary Music from 22 to 27 March in one of the finest concert halls in Moscow, the Rachmaninoff Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The mutual influence of Russian and French music has a long history. Claude Debussy spoke of the influence of Mussorgsky’s music on him, and Igor Stravinsky came under Debussy’s influence while still a young man. Stravinsky, in turn, influenced several generations of French composers. In the second half of the 20th century Pierre Boulez’s influence on the musical language of Edison Denisov is evident, and over the last decade the ideas of the French spectral composers have found a distinctive development in the music of a number of young Russian composers.
At the “Moscow Forum” we shall try not only to trace these historical lines but also to discover entirely unexpected new connections. The festival programmes will feature works by leaders of the French and Russian avant-garde of different generations: Pierre Boulez and Edison Denisov, Gérard Grisey and Andrei Volkonsky, Tristan Murail and Sofia Gubaidulina. Particular emphasis in the festival programmes will be placed on the work of Russian composers who emigrated to France after the Revolution and influenced the development of French music: not only Igor Stravinsky, but also Nikolai Obukhov, Ivan Wyschnegradsky and Arthur Lourié, who are practically forgotten in their homeland. And of course, the festival gives carte blanche to young Russian composers, who will present their new works.
Taking part in the festival concerts are the renowned Moscow ensemble Studio for New Music and the festival’s guests: Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain directed by Daniel Kawka; soloists Donatienne Michel-Dansac (soprano), Jean Geoffroy (percussion) and Jay Gottlieb (piano); and the electronic music centres GRAME (Lyon) and CIRM (Nice).
The project is carried out as part of the Russia–France Year 2010 with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the French Cultural Centre in Moscow
The festival was also supported by:
National Centre for Contemporary Arts
CIRM, National Centre for Musical Creation (Nice, France)
GRAME, National Centre for Musical Creation (Lyon, France)
LIST OF EVENTS
22 March, Monday
13:00, Conservatory Conference Hall
CONFERENCE
The Russian Post-Revolutionary Avant-garde in France
Svetlana Savenko The French Composer Igor Stravinsky
Natalia Savkina Prokofiev and France: Some Aspects of the Problem
Nino Barkalaya The Idea of Super-Art in the Work of Nikolai Obukhov
Olesya Bobrik Arthur Lourié in Paris
Anton Rovner Wyschnegradsky’s Microchromatics in the Context of His Mystical Ideas
Mark Pekarsky Andrei Volkonsky: Russia–France
Festival Opening
19:00, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Concert 1
Alexander Vustin Credo for ensemble (2004, Russian premiere)
Nikolai Obukhov La Confession (1930s, Russian premiere)
Hugues Dufourt L’Origine du Monde (2004, Russian premiere)
Edison Denisov Chamber Symphony No. 2 (1994)
Ekaterina Kichigina, soprano
Mikhail Dubov, piano
Mona Khaba, piano
Olesya Rostovskaya, theremin
Yuri Favorin, piano
Studio for New Music ensemble
Conductor: Honoured Artist of Russia Igor Dronov
20:30, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Concert 2
Alexey Nadzharov Ultraviolet for ensemble (2009, Russian premiere)
Alexey Sysoev Sirens for ensemble (2009, Russian premiere)
Olga Bochikhina From Beneath the Dome for ensemble (2009, Russian premiere)
Anna Romashkova Quand même... (2010, world premiere)
Vladimir Gorlinsky Ultimate granular paradise for ensemble and electronics (2008, Russian premiere)
Studio for New Music ensemble
Conductor: Vladimir Gorlinsky
23 March, Tuesday
13:00, Conservatory Conference Hall
Round Table: Contemporary Music of Russia and France
Taking part in the discussion:
François Paris, James Giroudon, David Jisse, Yuri Kasparov, Vladimir Tarnopolsky,
Faraj Karaev, Igor Kefalidi, Svetlana Savenko, Fyodor Sofronov
19:00, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
A Concert for Voice
Georges Aperghis Récitations for solo soprano (1978, Russian premiere)
Donatienne Michel-Dansac, soprano (France)
20:30, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Livre pour quatuor
Michaël Levinas String Quartet No. 1 (1960, Russian premiere)
Ivan Wyschnegradsky Composition for string quartet (1960)
Alexander Vustin Little Requiem for soprano and string quartet (1994)
Pierre Boulez Livre pour quatuor (1948–49, Russian premiere)
Alain Gaussin Chakra for string quartet (1984)
Andrei Volkonsky Was noch lebt… for voice and string trio (1989)
Alisa Gitsba, soprano
Svetlana Savenko, soprano
Studio for New Music String Quartet
Cantabile String Quartet
24 March, Wednesday
13:00, Conservatory Conference Hall
Masterclass by Donatienne Michel-Dansac, soprano (France)
14:00, 17:00, National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Small Hall (13 Zoologicheskaya Street)
A Concert in Headphones: Electroacoustic Performance
David Jisse, audio fragments, voices
Thierry Balasse, concrete sounds, synthesiser
Christian Sebille, laptop, real-time sound effects (France)
19:00, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Nikolai Obukhov: the “Missing Link” between Scriabin and Messiaen
Alexander Scriabin
Four Preludes, Op. 74 (1914)
Feuillet d’album, Op. 58 (1911)
Guirlandes, Op. 73/1 (1914)
Nikolai Obukhov
Four Pieces
Tableaux Psychologiques (1915)
Olivier Messiaen
Regard du temps, The Almighty Word (from Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus, 1944)
Jay Gottlieb, piano (France)
20:30, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Concert
Nikolai Khrust Fluting point for flute, percussion and electronics (2010, Russian premiere)
Pierre Jodlowski De Front for ensemble and electronics (1999, Russian premiere)
Raphaël Biston Sillages for ensemble and electronics (2010, world premiere)
Tristan Murail Allégories for ensemble and electronics (1989–90, Russian premiere)
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain (France)
Conductor: Daniel Kawka (France)
25 March, Thursday
13.00, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Masterclass by Jean Geoffroy, percussion (France)
19.00, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
A Concert for 12 Voices
Igor Stravinsky Three Sacred Choruses (1926–1934)
Edison Denisov The Coming of Spring to words by A. Fet (1984)
Sofia Gubaidulina The Horse (from the cantata Hommage à Marina Tsvetayeva, 1984)
Olivier Messiaen Cinq rechants (1949)
Iannis Xenakis Nuits (1967–68, Russian premiere)
EIDOS vocal ensemble
Conductor: Andrey Kaplanov
20.30, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Concert
Philippe Hurel Cantus (Hommage à Georges Perec) for voice and ensemble (2006, Russian premiere)
Philippe Leroux Voix (R)ex for voice, ensemble and electronics (2002, Russian premiere)
Gérard Grisey Talea for quintet (1985–86)
Donatienne Michel-Dansac, soprano
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain
Conductor: Daniel Kawka (France)
26 March, Friday
19.00, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Percussive Electronics
Pierre Alain Jaffrennou For One for percussion, video and electronics (2009, Russian premiere)
Martin Matalon Trace IV for marimba and electronics (2006, Russian premiere)
François-Bernard Mâche Phenix for percussion (1982)
Isabel Urrutia Mandala for multi-percussion and electronics (Russian premiere)
Jean Geoffroy, Yi-Ping Yang Improvisation
Jean Geoffroy and Yi-Ping Yang, percussion (France)
Christophe Lebreton, electronics
20.30, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Concert
Edison Denisov Tod ist ein langer Schlaf. Variations on a Theme by Haydn for cello and orchestra (1982)
Pascal Dusapen Galim, “Requies plena oblectationis” for flute and orchestra (1998, Russian premiere)
Igor Stravinsky Concerto in D for string orchestra (1946)
Musica Viva Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Alexander Rudin
27 March, Saturday
19.00, Rachmaninoff Hall of the Conservatory
Festival Closing
Arthur Lourié Synthèses, arranged for ensemble by F. Karaev (1914/2010)
Yuri Kasparov Homage to Honegger for ensemble (2005)
Faraj Karaev Hommage… (2004)
Sergey Pavlenko Epitaph in Memory of My Parents (2010, world premiere)
Igor Kefalidi …alpasstro for acoustic and electronic sounds (2010, Russian premiere)
François Paris À propos de Nice, music for the silent film by Jean Vigo (1929/2005)
Ekaterina Kichigina, soprano
Studio for New Music ensemble
Conductor: Honoured Artist of Russia Igor Dronov
Julien Aléonard, electronics (France)