Martín began his career as a flautist performing with the Royal Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. It was only six years ago that he embarked on his career as a conductor.

Earlier this month I spoke by phone with Martín about his burgeoning relationship with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, his fast-rising career as a conductor and his view towards programming the his first season.

In a video posted on LACO’s website, you talk about how it was love at first sight between you and the orchestra. What are the challenges you face to make sure the initial attraction can turn into a long-term relationship?

Oh my God. I wish I could tell you that. Since I was offered the job, which now seems like a long time ago, I had the chance to visit Los Angeles a few times. But only one time to work with the orchestra. That was a very important moment for me and the orchestra. That was middle point from the time we decided to put the ring on our fingers. This was a moment for everyone to think “we’ve done the right thing” or “we’ve made a horrible mistake.” I am very convinced we can work together. I think I realized it’s not just love at first sight, but I think we do trust each other. And I think trust in a relationship between orchestra and conductor, the same as with any relationship, is the most important ingredient.

How involved were you  in programming your first season?

Completely. I wanted to introduce to the orchestra and the audience in Los Angeles some of the artists I admire and have been admiring for a long time. For instance, on our first program we are going to work with Anne Sofie von Otter. She’s someone I admire so much and she’s never been with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. I can only be flattered that when I invited her that not only she agreed, but she was thrilled. The Berlioz [Les nuits d’été] is a perfect piece for a chamber orchestra. It’s not a piece that has often appeared in the repertoire.

The  first concert also features a new work by Andrew Norman called Begin. How did that come about?

When I was starting to think about building a season, I realized the best way to do a season was to continue with soloists and people I knew and then I wanted to use the composers that the orchestra has been using in the past few years. I learned that Andrew had been the composer-in-residence for the orchestra. He not only loves the orchestra, but he knows everybody by name. I asked him, “I would love you to write a piece for my opening concert. And I would love that the first sounds the audience hears at my first concert with LACO is your piece.” That’s how the whole piece came about. I asked him to do a concerto for chamber orchestra and in the end it has become a trilogy and will be a piece in three parts. I’m very excited about this project and it’s a fantastic way to tie Andrew to us for the next three years.

In January it was announced you will be the Chief Conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland for three years. What surprises you most about how quickly your conducting career has taken off?

It still surprises me. I have been performing music my whole life. When I was with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, I said to (conductor and the first music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra) Neville Marriner, “Next summer I’m going to conduct a youth orchestra.” He said, “That’s interesting. So in five years you will not play the flute any longer.” Playing in an orchestra I have learned so much. Like I have been in the best conducting class in the world. When you have the chance to work with Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Nicholas Harnoncourt, it’s like being taught by a professor and being told secrets you never thought you’d here. That’s why I didn’t make the jump earlier. Of course I am surprised and at the same time I’m not. Conducting is about music. Being in front of an orchestra is not new.

Theophile Gautier, whose poetry serves as the inspiration for the Berlioz song cycle you are performing at your first concert, once said, “Any man who does not have his inner world to translate is not an artist.” What is your inner world that you hope to translate vis-a-vis your work with the LA Chamber Orchestra?

What I would like to translate is freedom. Freedom is the basis of most things. Some people think conducting is an act of power or authority. I don’t feel that. What I feel when I conduct is I feel free. This is how I’ve always felt. When you find a group of people who acts with you and wants to experiment you feel free. Free to make a mistake, to try something and take risks. This is the kind of freedom I try to aim for.

Main photo of Jaime Martín by Ben Gibbs/All photos courtesy of the  Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

For more information on this weekend’s concerts, go here.

The post Jaime Martín Finds Freedom In Conducting appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

LACO is starting big. The concert features the world premiere of Begin by composer Andrew Norman. The LA Philharmonic made a splash last season with the world premiere of Norman’s Sustain. There’s no reason to think this new work won’t be just as exciting.

That alone would make this concert well worth attending. But Martín is bringing long-held relationships to LACO this season. He has invited good friend and collaborator mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter to perform Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été. This is a song cycle of six songs set to the poems of Théophile Gautier. I’ve only heard a recording of von Otter performing these songs. To hear her sing them live would be a treat for any serious music lover.

The concert concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony #7. This may be the most traditional aspect of the concert, but with Beethoven’s 250th birthday coming up, a lot of his work is going to be performed over the next 16 months.

This is a very strong way to launch their new season and welcome Jaime Martín to Los Angeles. We will have an interview with Martín later this week where he discusses his approach to making music in Los Angeles.

For tickets to Saturday’s performance in Glendale go here.

For tickets to Sunday’s performance at UCLA go here.

Photo of Jaime Martín by Ben Gibbs/Courtesy of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

The post Welcome Jaime appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Ludovic Morlot will conduct this concert which opens with Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture.  Martin Chalifour, principal Concertmaster of the LA Phil then performs two pieces with the orchestra: Chausson’s Poème and Massenet’s Méditation from his opera Thaïs.

Poème is one of Chausson’s most popular and enduring compositions. The work runs approximately 16 minutes. Meditation fromThaïs is an instantly recognizable work. The opera had its world premiere in 1894 in Paris. So there is definitely a French common denominator amongst all these works (including, of course, the conductor).

But the main attraction will be Petrushka – a ballet that looks at love and jealousy through the story of three puppets. It is ultimately a dark ballet filled with some of Stravinsky’s best writing. The work was written in the same time period when the composer had written The Firebird (which debuted one year earlier) and The Rite of Spring (which debuted one year later). All three compositions were for ballets staged by Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes.

For tickets go here.

Photo of Igor Stravinsky from the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress.

The post Stravinsky’s “Petrushka” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Katia and Marielle Labéque will be playing the two pianos for Carnival. Sean Hayes of Will and Grace will narrate. The text is by Ogden Nash.

Saint-Saëns wrote Carnival of the Animals as a tribute to Mardi Gras. He did, however, choose to skewer many of the people he knew – which probably lead to his desire not to have the piece performed until he had passed away.

The 27-minute work is broken up into 14 sections representing various different animals. Perhaps the best known part of Carnival of the Animals is “Aquarium,” the 7th section.

In the second half of the program the LA Phil will perform the Berlioz. Symphonie Fantastique depicts the life of an artist who uses opium to quiet the pain of deeply-felt rejection. The composer wrote this piece in response to his being spurned by Harriet Smithson, an actress he saw perform Ophelia in Hamlet. She later heard the piece, took an interest in Berlioz and they got married – only to have their marriage fall apart.

Symphonie Fantastique runs approximately 50 minutes.

To read my interview with the Labéque Sisters, go here.

Photo of the Labéque Sisters by Mila/Courtesy of Labeque.com

For tickets go here.

The post Carnival of the Animals appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

The Labéque Sisters have been playing music for two pianos together for nearly 50 years. Their first recording was of Olivier Messiaen’s Vision De L’Amen in 1970. But it was a Gershwin recording in 1980 that firmly established their career by becoming one of the first Gold Records in Classical Music.

Carnival of the Animals was written as a celebration of Mardi Gras by the composer in 1886. However, he did not allow the work to be published until after his death in 1922. It’s a work commonly associated with children as it uses music to depict various animals. In the process it showcases various instruments in the orchestra. Ogden Nash wrote text for the piece. At Tuesday night’s performance, Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) will serve as the narrator.

Last week I spoke with Marielle and Katia about this work, their recent collaboration with Thom Yorke of Radiohead and why they wanted to travel all this way to play at the Bowl.

Your schedule only shows one concert upcoming and that is this one performance of Carnival of the Animals. What makes that so special for you that it would be worth your time and energy to fly all the way to Los Angeles to perform a 27-minute piece?

Marielle: It is a bit crazy. First of all because I love this piece and it such a wonderful experience to play the Hollywood Bowl. We love the place and the atmosphere. Also we come to Los Angeles quite often and it also a pleasure to be back. This is the first place we came in America.

Katia: It’s all our friends. It’s like a family. They know us and we’ve been doing so many things for them and it’s exciting. In one concert you can perform for as many people as in seven or eight recitals. It’s not a lot of pressure to do that. It’s pure pleasure.

For those who think Saint-Saëns wrote this piece mostly as a work for children, what would you tell them?

Marielle: Of course there is more to it. He wanted to do it with friends at his home and it became such a popular piece. Aquarium is played every year at the Cannes Film Festival. The Swan is so beautiful. I remember we did Carnival with Leonard Slatkin and the adults were laughing so much more than the children.

Why do you think Saint-Saëns did not want the work published until after his death?

Katia: I am thinking of that every time I play it. I think that’s ironic that this is probably his most famous piece and he didn’t want it published. He was afraid of the people he was mocking – like the donkeys for the music critics. The pianist is also mocking the pianist. We are supposed to play it as if we don’t know how to play. We don’t rehearse it. We don’t fake it, but we try to think of how do we do it if we don’t know how to play.

Composer Bryce Dessner told me that it was a joy to make music with you and that you work harder and that “they can play three notes and it can be just the most beautiful – you make music immediately.” How much work does it take to get to the point where a composer would say that about you?

Katia: It takes certainly a lot of work, but it’s only with this amount of work that you can make it natural. I remember Fred Astaire was asked all the time, “How did you get to dance so naturally.” He said, “I rehearse each movement 5,000 times. And then I can do it easily.” I always have this in mind. That’s the only way to do it.

Marielle: We fight for each note, it is true. We are like that, Katia and I, because we are hard workers. I was so happy when we played for him. We had this energy and desire, of course. If you don’t like the music you play you can’t give pleasure to anyone or the audience. Modern music we love it.

[Earlier this year Dessner released El Chan, which is a concerto who wrote specifically for the Labéque Sisters.]

In addition to working with Dessner, you’ve recently been working with Thom Yorke of Radiohead. What has that experience been like for you?

Marielle: I’m a fan of Radiohead because I really love this group, but Katia this was always her dream. She met him and asked him to write the music which isn’t easy. We worked also like crazy because it was a completely different language than everything we did before. It was two piano and one piece of electronics. 

Katia: Oh he’s a genius! He’s an amazing musician. We’ve been admiring his music since so many years. Radiohead is one of my favorite groups. It’s one of the rare groups that plays manages to produce interesting stuff. Thom was afraid. He said, “I don’t know how to write music.” But he sent .wav files and it was transcribed. From there we started to build up what we imagined of his music. What’s really interesting with Thom is he thinks about atmosphere and mystery and it’s really good for us to work with a musician like that. 

You are now fast-approaching fifty years since your debut. When you imagined your career, is the path you’ve taken so far the career you had hoped for?

Katia: We never imagined that. We had the idea it could be nice, but we never imagined this. Life is always a surprise.

Marielle: Of course we wanted to be together and play together. But it’s still a surprise to for us. It’s a joy to make music. I treasure each moment we have even more than when I was 20 years old. We work a lot but we have something between us like that for so many years. It’s amazing.

Katia: Our only ambition was just to stay together. We did not have this pressure on us when we started. We could concentrate on the music. Today I see a lot of young pianists and they are concerned about the image and things. But when do they practice? We had a very natural way to meet with people and to work and that was good. But you know at the time we started nobody wanted to hear piano duets. It was not very modern. In Europe really we did not have so many duets. Now it is great and we have a lot of [new] works and it’s good for us. We were kind of a model. We are proud of that.

In addition to Carnival of the Animals, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Juanjo Mena conducts.  For tickets go here.

Photos by Umberto Nicoletti/Courtesy of labeque.com

The post The Labéque Sisters Come to LA for a Carnival appeared first on Cultural Attaché.