P. Glass 'Einstein on the Beach' parisian première !

Yes !!!

a huge croud outside, even if with my picture you can't see it

 

 

Yesterday was the parisian première of the new Einstein on the Beach of Philip Glass.

Like every Glass fans, i knew the music, i read about it, so ... i was supposed to have no surprises

but .... 

 It was MINDBLOWING !!!! i was expecting many, but .... not THAT MUCH !!!!!!! i was Lucky to be at the very first rows (the "H" row, perfectly fitting me !!! ), and in the middle, so it was the perfect conditions possible.

the singers starts when ppl were still talking and sitting

they were looking at out straight in the eyes ! ! but always with smile !

 

 The funny thing was : it started right when they opened the doors !!
Since i was very front, i could see all of it, the singers arriving slowly by slowly with a huge "Fade In".
Since the light was still "on" everybody was talking ....
And of course
when
the lights were 'off'
the very same that talked so much did the usual "shuuuuuut" noises ......

Einstein starts ....

 It was really "something" ! i am still under its spell. I don't know how to "explain" it, there was something magical, and also beautiful at the very same time.

Everything was great, the dancers, the performers, the text, the sounds ....
And even the public !! i was expecting them to leave, and never come back . In fact few left, and usually they came back after 10 or 20 minutes !

the famous image :)

It also confort me in a point i was "wondering about" : on the opposite of what the PGE usually do (specially when synth is involved" is it more than agreed to do a Glass with rubato and inspiration (and not a dry note to note perfect rendition) , i am thinking in particular to the solo violin , solo fagot and solo sax part, with sometime some "jazzy swings" ).

What to say about the dancers, the texts, the abstractness of those flying light lines ...
Also ..... it finished with such a beautiful love story ! :)

dansers were amazing !

the so famous Spaceship !

I would love to see it again, and i understand why, when they premiered, public came again and again to see it 2/3/4 times , i would love to do it !

All the Chatelet was doing a 15 minutes long Standing Ovation !

to sum up, i would say, it is like "love at 1st sight" . You expect to like it, or at best to enjoy it, But ... when it finished you realise that you experienced something so intense that you will never forget in your entire life, you feel like something Inside you changed. Touched by bliss and at the very same time sad because you really don't know when you will be able to see it again (so it fits perfectly the definition of "love at 1st sight" )

Yes Philip Glass was here ! but did not perform ...

 

 

 

You can see all the concert here :
http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/einstein-on-the-beach-au-theatre-du-chatelet-146813
(available for free for 4 months! )


For the curious ones : you can see me searching my place at 0:02:32 , and at 0:03 something , taking with my "wonderful" new cellphone (that i really do not master yet) the pictures you can see on my blog ^^

Thérèse Brenet "Concerto" (update)

I have just received something i told you about when i met my friend the Sax player, composer and conductor Paul Wehage : the first newly edition of one of the 2 Thérèse Brenet piano concerto !


A work for piano solo, narrator and orchestra by Thérèse Brenet inspired by the poetry of ALLALEDDINE EL ROUMI, Masnawi, passim (13th century).
"Nos musiques sont l'écho des hymnes que les sphères chantent dans leurs révolutions Le chant des mondes qui évoluent, les hommes essaient de le reproduire en s'aidant du luth et de la voix. Nous avons tous entendu ces hautes mélodies dans le Paradis que nous avons perdu; Et bien que la terre et l'eau nous aient accablés nous conservons le souvenir des chants du ciel. Celui qui aime nourrit son amour en prêtant l'oreille à la musique, Car la musique lui rappelle les joies de sa première union avec Dieu" .

I really can't wait the reh to starts, even if i know that it will be .... not soon !

here you can browse the score :
http://issuu.com/paulwehage/docs/brenet-quandlesastres/32

and here a page of the Manuscript that i got since some years now

As i explained you, a forthcoming project (after the chamber music album) is to record the concertos.

There is (like everytime with me ^^ ) a nice story : when i prepared with Melle Brenet some pièces for the chamber music recording, she really liked my "way of performing" with delicacy and harsh sounds (well when you see FFF and ppp .....) . After many talk and when i told her how i came across her music and really liked it, she told me that she is 100% entrusting me for the concertos !

Also a very very fresh new, on the last letter Melle Brenet sent me she finally started to take seriously (and started to compose)  my idea to make a "one movement" Sonata (in the very same way as the late Scriabin ones) ! I really can t wait to see it !!!


update:
 i had a really crazy idea about the Brenet concertos. I can't tell you know, because the label owner think that it is "very interesting" but since there is much time left, they will work on it.
I can't tell you what it is, but ...... if i can do it .... expect something really really great !!!!

Electroacoustic news ! 5 albums soon out ! (updated with pictures)

Some of my Facebook friends might already have noticed it, in 2014 i will release electroacoustic albums that have been delayed since a very long time.
I can not show you all artwork, since i am right now working on them, I will post them as soon as they will be done.


So this is the Schedule :

 

In January / Febuary :

Valse Sinistre will release on limited handmade digicase the Lovecraft Trilogy :

At the Mountains of Madness

with wonderful abstract pictures of my long time friend : Jessica De Clerck

The Dreams in the Witch-House

artwork is made with pictures of Dinoys ! a Huge fan of Minimal music

(you can see his blog page on the right)

Twilight Amorphousness of the Vague Abysses

with brilliant painting of artist Kinard Patricia

Sublime Recapitulation Music will release :

Leçons de ténèbres

Artwork is made from very old digial arts that i did years ago

from my point of view they fit perfectly this album

In April / May

Acedia



Mors Ultima Ratio will release my "Acedia" album

For this one the artwork has just been done with wonderful paintings of Kinard Patricia. When the album will be out i will give you all détails !

Happy New Year !

Long time no posts !


I am really sorry, but after so much work on december, i took a family break.
Not really a break as i prepared many things for 2014, and soon i will tell you many great things !!

I share with you some pictures of my New Year Eve :)

I am wishing you all the very best things for this great year to come ! Will it bring the realisation of all your dreams, wishes and projects !

I hate Ewoks !

Today, after such hard work, i am publishing something light, almost a private joke.

Indeed this is something that i found back, a kind of Holy Grail for me and my students (they know how much their teacher loves to do jokes).

For years i told them about a flash game i saw years ago in internet that i really loved :

the Ewoks annihilator !!

Yes i hate Ewoks (maybe not as much as Jar-Jar Bins), as a kid i also hated Ewoks so strongly, i hated everything, every single time they came with their horrible face, their stupidity and their terrible langage.
As a kid, my parents belived that it was "cute" so i will be pleased to watch their TV-mini serie .....
I also hated Alf for the very same reason... i was more into the Twilight Zone

So my dear students who are reading my blog, i am extremely pleased to introduce you to one of my favored internet flashgame :

the Ewoks Annihilator

http://www.flashrolls.com/shooting-games/Ewok-Annihilation-Flash-Game.htm

Editing done !

Ah my gosh !!

I could not belive it would have been so long ....

4 long days .... 3 sleepless nights ....

First of all my want to thank my students who understood my need and did not complain because i was cancelling all the lessons.

Also i want to thank the very few and very kind friends that send me messages to cheer me up ! It really did matter a lot to me and helped me to overcome those nights .... I could not do the hot chocolate, but will do it later for sure ;-)

So the price of the hardest piece to edit was ..... How Now !!
It took me a complete night + morning !
But this is also a little my fault.
How Now was recorded "in a row". I mean, i did a 45 minutes version and i had to reduce everything.

But as i wanted to do something more interesting, instead of repeating each part when it came for the repeat (it would have been so easy) , each new sequence is totally different.

For this piece there is also a very funny story.
If you don t know "How Now", here it is:



When i recorded the 1st Glass album, How Now was the last piece to be recorded. I feared it a little bit. There were 2 reasons for that. This piece is pretty hard for the hand (everything is really tense, and all the muscles can get stiff) , and also it is so harsh that the piano can be de-tune very easily.

So to avoid any tension, How Now was the last one. Like that i was sure that the other would be ok.

For the de-tune, i choose a Fazioli. There are pro and not-pro Fazioli i will not enter into this endless war. But there is one important thing : Fazioli is really "for the top over the top piano brands" the one that is very hardly getting out of tune !

As you know now, the piece is very ... avant gardist, and really harsh !

When i finished the piece, i was hearing some screamings, some strange noise (i did not hear them on the recording).
As sound engineer explained : there was one old lady that was complaining about the harsh sound. She came to complain (the album was recorded in a very nice Church in Paris), she was clapping doors and Windows ......

Also in the middle of the piece, i was really Inside it, and .... i saw some strange heads coming out of the doors.
Luckily they did not came in, as i would have to stop and tell them that .... i might not be the one they were looking for...


Anyway, tonight after this very long edit, i enjoyed a very nice italian restaurant downstairs :

Bacino 

a nice table:

Gressini e un bicchiere di Spumante Prosecco

 

my all time favorite:

pomodoro e mozzarella di bufala

Scaloppina Milanese con spaghetti alla napoletana

Tiramisu

 

To sum up, i really enjoyed it, it was good and tasty. Also it is far away from the crappy pizzeria. It is pretty cute Inside and could be a nice restaurant for a date. I really recommand it.
This time i did not try, but the pizza are pretty big and tasty

Recording Act III : editing the Glass album :)

me listening one track of the Glass album

yes many fancy graphics,

very hypnotic to see them moving :)

Yes !!!! Finally !!!!

A long time it took me. I must confess that i was a little bit over busy with the preparation of forthcoming Glass Marathon at the Palais de Tokyo and a real huge surprise i am preparing !
I can't say much, exept for the ones who already saw it : it will be really different !!!

You will have news in the forthcoming weeks !

Anyway, i solved all the hardwares / softwares / computer compatibility etc etc ....
I remembered my friends when i was a kid. They were battleling against their computer, and we already had to wait more than 40 minutes to play a video game ! (when i could do imediately with my NES ). I promised that i would never do like them ..... Ha .... If i knew that i would do worst ....


So now i can finally enjoy my 1st album. The editing is now going very well, and i have to say that i love the piano sound. After for the musicality well .... it is me performing so ... i can't say a word ! I will let you the pleasure to tell me !!


I have plenty of good news to tell you, but i keep for myself and this blog the joy of more entries :)


Sorry i can't publish yet some Glass samples, i will see with Naxos when i would be able to do so


All the best my dear friends


Nicolas