LE BALCON SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE Loose adaptation for chamber orchestra BERLIOZ | LAVANDIER Le Balcon New Label — Le Balcon French national release : September 20th, 2016 CD BOX : TRANSAURAL VERSION – 3D SURROUND MIX FOR LOUDSPEAKERS- DOWNLOAD CODE INCLUDED FOR BINAURAL VERSION -3D SURROUND MIX FOR HEADPHONES Concerts : Théâtre de l’Athénée Sep 24 & 25, 2016 — Festival de Pâques de Deauville Apr 15, 2017 Teatro Mayor Jun 9, 2017 — Théâtre de Carcassonne Dec 8, 2017 — Opéra de Lille Mar 25, 2018 press [at] lebalcon.com PRESENTATION Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op. 14 (1830) Loose adaptation for chamber orchestra (2013, commissioned by Festival Berlioz) by Arthur Lavandier (born in 1987) In commissioning the Balcon ensemble for an ‘interpretation’ of the Symphonie Fantastique, the Festival Berlioz took a considerable risk. Given the size of the orchestra, a ‘transcription’, an ‘adaptation’ was necessary or in Arthur Lavandier’s words a ‘recreation’ – a term that we will retain since it was he who undertook this hazardous task. It is not a case of Berlioz against Lavandier, and the contrary even less so. It is an ‘encounter of a third kind’, a mosaic challenge, an open-minded tribute, an orchestral game, and shared laughter despite the centuries that divide them both. We could also say that it was like a fan- tasy film re-make. LE BALCON CONDUCTOR, MAXIME PASCAL PRODUCTION AND EDITORIAL CONCEPT, FLORENT DEREX SOLO VIOLIN, YOU JUNG HAN FLUTE, CLAIRE LUQUIENS OBOE, YE CHANG JUNG CLARINET, IRIS ZERDOUD BASSOON, JULIEN ABBES FRENCH HORN, JOËL LASRY TROMBONE, MATHIEU ADAM TRUMPET, HENRI DELÉGER TUBA, ÉMILIEN COURAIT ALPHORN, NICOLAS CHEDMAIL PERCUSSION, BENOÎT MAURIN TIMBALES, ADRIANAMIR SALLOUM ELECTRIC GUITAR, GIANI CASEROTTO PIANO, ALAIN MULLER MIDI KEYBOARD, SARAH KIM VIOLIN, VALENTIN BROUCKE VIOLAS, AURÉLIE DESCHAMPS & ANDREÏ MALAKHOV CELLO, CLOTILDE LACROIX DOUBLE BASS, SIMON GUIDICELLI RECORDING PRODUCER, FLORENT DEREX BALANCE ENGENEER, JEAN-MARC LYZWA COMPUTER MUSIC DESIGNER, AUGUSTIN MULLER SOUND SPATIALIZATION CREATED WITH TRANSPAN, PROTOTYPE OF BINAURAL AND TRANSAURAL SPATIALIZATION DEVELOPED BY JEAN-MARC LYZWA — AUDIOVISUAL CENTER OF CONSERVATOIRE DE PARIS —, ALEXIS BASKIND AND THE ACOUSTIC AND COGNITIVE SPACES TEAM AT IRCAM, PARIS WITH KIND PARTICIPATION OF ACADEMIE DE MUSIQUE DE RUE TONTON A FAIM ! The CD box includes a Transaural version (3D surround mix for loudspeakers) with the CD, a special 3D surround mix for headphones to download (Binaural version) and more surprises on the production-dedicated website : WWW.SYMPHONIE-FANTASTIQUE.COM The binaural version is also available for download for the purchase of Momentum headphones from Sennheiser ! 2 3 LETTER OF INTENT FROM ARTHUR LAVANDIER, COMPOSER “Music, today in the strength of its youth, is emancipated and free; it does what it likes. Many old rules no longer apply; they were created by inattentive observers or by mundane spirits, for other mundane spirits. Soul, heart and sense of hearing have new needs, require fresh efforts to be made and, in some cases, old rules to be broken.” HECTOR BERLIOZ THE CONCERT AS SHOW When I began to discuss the idea of the concert experience, which has of creating a new version of the always been very present in the pro- Symphonie Fantastique, I had already jects of Le Balcon and in my work as completed several arrangements and a composer, it seemed essential to us transcriptions for Le Balcon. Some to imagine something that would go were more or less simple, remaining beyond the simple framework of arran- close to the original texts, like Prélude ging and which placed us in the same à l’après-midi d’un faune by Debussy, dynamic thrust as Berlioz in 1830. whilst others were more daring, per- Thus we have a re-imagining of the sonal and contemporary pieces such symphony, the main challenge being as Mirages by Fauré. to update, expand and re-interpret the I used to consider arranging to be a original material. strictly musical affair, requiring a cer- Also, just as the ‘literary argument’ tain technicity, whereby all hurdles (the blueprint of the symphony) can could be overcome by notes, nuances be considered the common thread of and timbres. In the same way, ques- the work and also the mainspring of tions regarding how far I could stray instrumental ingenuity, it also serves from the original work; how a modern as a solid framework for my new ver- day composer deals with a composer sion. It determines not only the various from another era; as well as the ques- orchestral atmospheres but also the tion of legitimacy, found their answers very number of instrumentalists active in musical gestures. at any one point in time, it determines However when it came to the their spatial placement in the room Fantastique, other challenges pre- and whether they are professionals or sented themselves, most notably one amateurs. It also assists with decisions of strategy, and the direction the work on the rhythmic, melodic, harmonious, would take. structural or stylistic liberties to be With the Symphonie Fantastique, taken with the original work. Berlioz revolutionised the concert In this way, seen through the prism of experience, using a new expressive- the text, each movement possesses its ness and until-then-unheard effects, own ‘instrumentarium’ and its own degree he also brought theatricality out from of distinction within the symphony. the Opera houses of the time and Why so? Because the story told, is placed the notion of entertainment at in fact one of divergence, a story that the center of his work. Because of this, deviates from the real to the phantas- and the desire to push aside the rituals magoric, from normal to the strange, 4 from everyday life to fantasy. gic Swiss ‘Ranz des vaches’ and a I wanted to present the intro to thunderstorm), this movement first the symphony as a manifesto. It is a establishes itself within a realistic special moment, where the direction musical scenary, we hear an Alpine of this new interpretation becomes horn and sound effects, which then clear. The theatrical aspect is already unfold into grandiose and abstract present in the initial pace of the vio- landscapes. The artist finds himself lin; the numerous transformations, alone, faced with Nature, sublime and augmented harmonies and the ins- gigantic, but also alone in facing his trumental writing is symptomatic of passions, his doubts and his fears. my work as a composer. The harmonies and the melodies Subsequently, the 1st movement become inflated, extended; certain pas- (the starting point of our so-called sages are repeated, others are cut (OUT divergence) is merely a simple trans- SHORT?), the music is epic and intense, cription for the ensemble, comprising time becomes long, dense, heavy. the minimum number of players. The 4th movement, interpreted by Everything is still within the bounds an amateur wind ensemble, (which of normality. The chords, the melo- in the concert version, must play off dies and the orchestral textures are stage, roaming around) represents a the same. real break with the previous move- The waltz, the romantic whirlwind ments. The decision to move away in which our hero navigates, beco- completely from the sound of the tra- mes an extension and a spurring on ditional orchestra, and even, from a of the movement, as it shifts, swirls ‘professional sound’ as such, boosts and takes flight. the theatrical aspect of this symphony We find ourselves in the cen- even farther. ter of a party wherein we pass from It’s all a necessary run-up to the room to room, orchestra to orches- madness of the 5th movement. It’s tra, era to era and from style to style also a logical step up in the distinc- (waltz-musette, flamboyant big band, tion from what is considered normal grand Viennese waltzes and ballroom to what has become strange, both orchestra among others). There are orchestrally and dramatically. more instruments, more orchestral Furthermore, the choice to work textures, additional chords and some with amateurs is by no means ano- small surprises. dyne, since it is a choice which Bruno, In the 3rd movement, we come to within the framework of the Berlioz the idea of total romanticism with all festival, Maxime, with his Impromptu its extremes and passions, which I orchestra, and I, at the heart of several wanted to develop. pieces, have been making for several As in the original, which begins years now. and ends with gestures from a more And so, I would summarise the 5th naturalistic context (e.g. the nostal- movement as being «all of the above». Creation of the new version, medieval hall of La Côte-Saint-André, september 2013 5 THE PRODUCTION 3D SURROUND MIX FEATURING For its first phonographic production, The 4th movement, La Marche au supplice Le Balcon, very involved on technological represents a real break with the previous issues related to the sound, offers an original movements. The decision to move away approach by overlaying three sound recording completely from the sound of the traditio- system (transaural, binaural, 5.1), each dedi- nal orchestra, and even, from a ‘professional cated to a media: physical, web and video. sound’ as such, boosts the theatrical aspect Florent Derex, recording producer and foun- of this symphony even farther. der of Le Balcon, surrounded himself with Le Balcon has collaborated with musicians partners and in particular those of Binaural as different as Ensemble à vents d’Isère, Listening consortium (3D surround mix for Harmonie de thourotte , the Bagad du Moulin headphones) : Conservatoire de Paris, IRCAM, vert in quimper Tonton a faim band for this cd ! Radio France, Orange. THE CONSERVATORY THE BELLS The Symphonie fantastique was created on In August 2013, the night of the Festival Dec 5th, 1830 at the Music and declamation Berlioz opening, two bells were cast in conservatory - today Conservatoire d’art dra- bronze, 300 kg and 600 kg, tuned on two matique - conducted by François-Antoine notes (G and C) of the Songe dune nuit du Habeneck.