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Home , Das Liebesverbot, Die Feen

2020 I 2021 SEASON

WAGNER, BEGINNINGS DOUBLE ORCHESTRA

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

MARCH 11 - 20 2021

insulaorchestra.fr BEGINNINGS DOUBLE ORCHESTRA Duration : 1h40 with interval

Personnel: (1813-1883) Solo , 77 musicians Symphony in C major Symphony in E major (unfinished) Performance period : : , , , Der Fliegender MARCH 11-20 2021 Holländer Selected arias (Der Fliegender Holländer, Rienzi)

Ricarda Merbeth, soprano Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin Insula orchestra In 2021, Insula orchestra reunites again with Laurence Equilbey, conductor its companion Akamus in order to create a double orchestra on period instruments.

Why combine two orchestras playing period instruments? “Our research into the size of “festival” orchestras in Beethoven’s day has revealed that they could in fact be very big, with four-strong rather than two-strong woodwind and brass sections, a very precise score architecture, with solo and tutti passages... This has fascinating implications in terms of sound and expressivity. Following on from our December 2018 version of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony for double orchestra, with Insula orchestra and Akamus, we are delighted to present this programme: Wagner, Beginnings.” Laurence Equilbey

Combining the timbres of two orchestras playing period instruments, in other words using the colours that Wagner would actually have heard in his lifetime, this programme offers a rare journey and fresh perspectives: a window with a view of the future.

During the nine years that elapsed between his Symphony in C major (1832) and The Flying Dutchman (1841), the young Richard had time to invent Wagner. His two early symphonies, one of which remained unfinished, settled his debt to Beethoven, and bought him a passport to the future.

Putting the finishing touches to hisfirst opera, Die Feen (The Fairies), a work with strains of , Wagner may already have had his mind set on reinventing the genre. The orchestra would become the forge in which he would beat his golden jewellery into shape. The already contains the seeds of almost all Wagner. You can hear the inklings of Act I of The Valkyrie in the hunting brass, the marching rhythms, and the murmuring drama. is perceptible in the glittering timbres ascending towards the light, while, even more premonitory, a first draught of awaits the freedom of its definitive scoring.

The opening bars of his opera, Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love), composed immediately afterwards, this time in the spirit of a French or Italian comic opera, would have been be an unusual sidestep were it not for the sudden irruption of fate from the depths of the orchestra. The threat of the Ring of the Nibelung already lurks. The general momentum would culminate in Tannhäuser.

The overture to Rienzi, the last of Wagner’s early works, continues the fight and opens up new perspectives: the double basses crawl like the dragon in , a motif rises up like a brother song in Tristan… The tumultuous ending leads to Der Fliegende Holländer, with its unstable swells, and the leitmotiv of redemption through love that would, till the end, be the hallmark of Wagner, the poet.

2 insulaorchestra.fr A solo soprano will also sign the most beautiful parts of these early , such as Senta’s Ballad from Der Fliegender Holländer.

Later, hints at what would become endless melody, the dilution of tonality. Wagner’s work would have accomplished Richard’s promise.

PRESS REVIEW

“The Insula orchestra is a very chic Parisian period-instrument band whose founder-conductor Lau- rence Equilbey is developing a reputation for smart programming.” Richard Morrison, The Times, 12 March 2018

“Yes, [Laurence Equilbey] likes to enhance her performances with technological wizardry. Yes, La Seine Musicale, where Insula is now orchestra-in-residence, looks like a futuristic hybrid of beehive and space station. But Equilbey offers up the best in historically informed peformance: energy, lightness, attention to detail.” Hannah Nepil, The Financial Times, 26 February 2018

“Laurence Equilbey, whose conducting is getting more and more supple, has at her disposal a very high level ensemble, which shows in Der Freischütz powerful and theatrical sound effects.“ Richard Martet, Opéra Magazine, May 2017

“At the moment, Laurence Equilbey is at the helm of the show. [...] This inaugural concert is designed after her project. Modern, unexpected, elegant.” Thierry Hillériteau, Le Figaro, 24 April 2017

“Insula orchestra shows that it has come of age with a spring in its step. This symphonic genesis, far more than just seven days’ work, owes much to the leadership of Laurence Equilbey, whose intelli- gence serves music that is at once intimate and grandiose. With suppleness, sense of colour, dramatur- gical sensibility, and precision, her conducting is more relaxed, and has gained in magnitude.” Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde, 16 March 2017

SUPPORTERS

CONTACTS

Samuel Serin, Managing Director Josquin Macarez, Artistic delegate [email protected] [email protected] +33 (0)6 03 21 13 67 +33 (0)6 73 58 53 18

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