[last tickets] London Symphony Orchestra & Barbara Hannigan

A very warm welcome to Klarafestival!

Flanders Festival Brussels, Klara and our partners are delighted to greet you once again. “I believe audiences aren’t just listening. They are actively contributing”, festival artist Barbara Hannigan remarked in an interview. Concerts are an interaction between the audience, artists and anyone who is contributing to those magic moments in front of or behind the scenes. Together we ‘become’ music. 

As a conductor and soprano, Hannigan is a global reference point. With her, classical music becomes a contemporary and unique experience. This is an inspiration to Klarafestival as the largest broadcast festival in Belgium. Her versatile talent is sure to enrapture you, as is that of the many Belgian and international artists who connect past and present with musical stories.

Klarafestival opens in style with Hannigan as conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. After that, you will hear and see her with young musicians from her mentorship project Equilibrium Young Artists. In no fewer than 25 concerts, we present top talent including Les Talens Lyriques, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Vilde Frang, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with Víkingur Ólafsson. Klarafestival also treasures creation. The film concert Reich/Richter as a symbiosis of Gerhard Richter’s paintings and the music of Steve Reich; the creation Counterforces by composer Frederik Croene to text by poet Dominique de Groen; and the music theatre production Prey by Kris Verdonck with a composition by Annelies Van Parys will surprise you!

This and all other concerts are possible thanks to the collaboration with our cultural partners: Bozar, Flagey, Kaaitheater, Théâtre Varia, Muntpunt, Concertgebouw Brugge and DE SINGEL. Thanks to our private partners KPMG, Proximus, Brewery Omer Vander Ghinste, Belfius, Interparking and the players of Belgium’s National Lottery. We are grateful for the support of the Flemish Community and the Brussels Capital Region. And finally, thanks to Klara and VRT: there would be no broadcast festival without their valued collaboration.

Joost Fonteyne
Intendant Klarafestival

The ascension of Messiaen and Mahler

Messiaen’s L’Ascension 

My belief is the big drama in my life. I believe, so I sing the words of God for those who do not believe. I give birdsong to those who live in the city and have never heard it, make rhythms for those who only know military marches or jazz, and paint colours for those who see none. - Olivier Messiaen, 9 December 1988

Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992) grew up in an art-loving family. His father, Pierre Messiaen, made it his life’s mission to translate the oeuvre of Shakespeare. His mother, Cécile Sauvage, was a famous poet. For his tenth birthday, Olivier was given the score of Debussy's symbolist opera Pelléas et Mélisande as a gift, which was a revelation. A year later, he went to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied composition under Paul Dukas and organ under Marcel Dupré. Driven by his untameable curiosity, Messiaen immersed himself in Gregorian chants, Hindu rhythms, Greek music, birdsong, sacred texts and surreal poetry. All would serve as a source of inspiration for his later compositions. Immediately after graduating, the 22-year-old Messiaen was appointed as organist of the prestigious Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris, a position that he would occupy for the rest of his life. There in 1933 he composed L’Ascension: a religious quadriptych based on Christ’s Ascension. 

The first of the four “symphonic meditations” from L’Ascension is entitled ‘Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père’ (‘Majesty of Christ praying that his Father should glorify him’). At the top of the score Messiaen quotes from John 17:1: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you". Statically and majestically, the brass instruments underline the text – with a starring role for the trumpets. Then follows the melodious ‘Alléluias sereins d'une âme qui désire le ciel’ (‘Serene hallelujahs from a soul longing for heaven’). Here too Messiaen notes down an inscription, a fragment from the Ascension Mass, “We beg you, oh God… let our soul reside in heaven”. With its trills and arabesque silhouette, the striking solo is the earliest example of the birdsong that Messiaen would later incorporate into his compositions.

After the serene second movement, the orchestra breaks out in a festive mood under the title ‘Alléluia sur la trompette, alléluia sur la cymbale’ (‘Hallelujah on the trumpet, Hallelujah on the cymbal’). The quote comes from Psalm 47: "The Lord is gone up with the sound of the trumpet…O clap your hands, all ye people, shout unto God with the voice of triumph!” The jubilant trumpets provide the answering cry. The fourth meditation is ‘Prière du Christ montant vers son père’ (‘Prayer of Christ ascending toward his Father’). If the wind instruments dominated what preceded it, then in this last movement Messiaen only allows the strings to speak. The introverted music unfolds slowly, and supported by the violins, violas and cellos the composer paints an aureole of light. Messiaen again quotes John 17, this time from verses 6 and 11: “I have revealed your name to the people… Now I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you…”

Mahler’s Symphony No. 4

The angelic voices delight the senses, so that everything joyfully awakens.

- Das himmlische Leben (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)

Every summer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) would suspend his activities as a conductor in order to fully focus on composition. In the summer months of 1900 – at that point he was musical director of both the Vienna Court Opera and the Wiener Philharmoniker – he exchanged the busy Vienna for a small hut at the green, shady south coast of Lake Wörth. There, in his modest Komponierhäuschen, he continued working on his Symphony No. 4, the final chapter in what he regarded as a “perfect standalone tetralogy”. Mahler’s first four symphonies do indeed have a great deal in common, both musically and philosophically. Musically they contain allusions to songs, and in particular (in the case of the Second, Third and Fourth) to the collection of songs Des knaben Wunderhorn. Mahler also explores the same philosophical and theological themes in every work. The symphonies depict a world of heroic suffering and overcoming (First), of death and resurrection (Second), of the earthly and the godly nature (Third), only to culminate with childish joy in the hereafter (Fourth).

With its smaller line-up and scale, the Fourth sounds more intimate than its predecessors. Already in the opening bars Mahler introduces a striking lightness and symmetry (which he admittedly undermines later on), resulting in the first movement sometimes being described as ‘neo-classical’. The transparent texture that Mahler achieves with his relatively modest line-up is chiefly apparent in the second movement, where he combines this clarity with various solo passages. Mahler originally gave the following subtitle to this movement, which is formally conceived as a scherzo with double trio: "Freund Hein strikes up the dance for us; he puts his bow to his violin in a most peculiar way and plays us up to heaven.” He expresses the bizarre violin playing of death by tuning the solo violin a tone higher and thus conjuring up raw, squealing sounds from the instrument. Only the slow third movement seems to escape the general lightness. Mahler’s dear friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner described the expressive beginning as “a divinely serene and sad melody [...] that makes you laugh and cry at the same time.” For Mahler, the fourth movement was both the beginning (the source of inspiration) and the goal of the Fourth. In a heavenly soprano solo, a child sings of his vision of heaven, one in which the fish swim up to you on Fast Day and Saint Cecilia plays the most delightful music.

Lalina Goddard

Barbara Hannigan

Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Her artistic colleagues include, among others, Simon Rattle, Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano and Vladimir Jurowski. Hannigan has given the world première performances of over 85 new creations and has won numerous awards, such as the Dresdner Musikfestspiele Glashütte Award. In autumn 2022, she received France’s Officier des Arts et des Lettres distinction and was named Gramophone Magazine’s Artist of the Year.

Aphrodite Patoulidou

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Aphrodite Patoulidou is one of the most interesting rising stars of today. A celebrated soprano, she appears in theatres such as the Staatsoper Berlin, La Monnaie and Teatro Real Madrid, and in concert halls such as the Berliner Philharmonic and the Gothenburg Konserthuset.  She has collaborated with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Barbara Hannigan and Christopher Moulds. She was one of the first artists to take part in Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists Initiative.

The London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra is built on the belief that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere. The LSO is ranked among the world’s top orchestras, with a family of artists that includes Music Director Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas and Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas. In March 2021 it was announced that Sir Antonio Pappano will take up the role of Chief Conductor from September 2024.

19:30 - 19:50

Klarafestival LOUNGE
Introduction by dramaturge Lalina Goddard (NL)
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Bozar Salon Ovale
Introduction by Elsa de Lacerda (FR)
 

21:30 - 22:30

Klarafestival LOUNGE 
Afterparty with DJ Sander De Keere 

London Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Barbara Hannigan

First violins

Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay, leader
Ginette Decuyper, Laura Dixon, Maxine Kwok, Claire Parfitt, Laurent Quenelle, Harriet Rayfield, Sylvain Vasseur, Rhys Watkins, Jerome Benhaim, Morane Cohen-Lamberger, Aliayta Foon-Dancoes, Caroline Frenkel, Bridget O'Donnell 

Second violins

David Alberman, Thomas Norris, Miya Vaisanen, Matthew Gardner, Alix Lagasse, Belinda McFarlane, Iwona Muszynska, Andrew Pollock, Paul Robson, Dunja Bontek, Gordon MacKay, Sooanh Oh 

Violas
Edward Vanderspar, Malcolm Johnston, German Clavijo, Julia O'Riordan, Sofia Silva Sousa, Robert Turner, Carol Ella, Philip Hall, Nancy Johnson, Martin Schaefer 

Cellos

David Cohen, Eve-Marie Caravassilis, Daniel Gardner, Amanda Truelove , Salvador Bolón, Judith Fleet, Desmond Neysmith, Joanna Twaddle 

Double basses

Patrick Laurence, Thomas Goodman, Jani Pensola, David Desimpelaere, Ben Griffiths, Paul Sherman, Jim Vanderspar 

Flutes

Gareth Davies, Sarah Bennett, Sharon Williams (piccolo), Patricia Moynihan (piccolo), Patricia Moynihan (alto flute)

Oboes

Juliana Koch, Olivier Stankiewicz, Rosie Jenkins

Cor anglais

Thomas Davey

Clarinets

Chris Richards, Chi-Yu Mo, Katy Ayling (bass clarinet)

Saxophones

Simon Haram (alto), Bradley Grant (baritone)

Bassoons

Rachel Gough, Daniel Jemison, Joost Bosdijk, Michael Elderkin (contra bassoon)

Horns

Timothy Jones, Diego Incertis Sánchez, NN, Angela Barnes, Jonathan Maloney

Trumpets

Matthew Williams, Robin Totterdell, Imogen Whitehead

Trombones

Neil Gallie, Tom Berry, Paul Milner (bass trombone)

Tuba

Ben Thomson

Timpani

Nigel Thomas

Percussion

Neil Percy, Sam Walton, David Jackson, Patrick King

Harp

Bryn Lewis