Orchestre Philharmonique De Radio France - Symphony No. 14 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Ingmar Bergman (1918- 2007) made fifty films, directed more than 150 theatre productions and wrote several books, but the recurrent thread running through his life was music. He often said that if he hadn't become a director he would have wished to become a conductor, and went so far as to claim that 'film and music are almost the same thing. They are means of expression and communication that go beyond human wisdom and that touch a person's emotional centre.' Bergman's interest in classical music became evident early on in his career. Music in Darkness (1948) is about a pianist who loses his sight in a shooting accident. To Joy (1950) features a violinist who dreams of a solo career and Summer Interlude (1951) takes place at the Royal Swedish Opera. He admired all who could perform music, reserving his greatest love for pianists, and concert pianists are portrayed in Hour of the Wolf, Face to Face and Autumn Sonata. One of Bergman's favourite Swedish pianists was Roland Pöntinen, who here performs a number of pieces featured in Bergman's films, by composers including Mozart, Chopin and Schumann. Pöntinen is joined by the Stenhammar Quartet in the second movement of Schumann's piano quintet, used by Bergman to great effect in the award-winning Fanny and Alexander. Another of the director's favourite performers, the cellist Torleif Thedéen, also contributes to the project, with the sarabandes from three of Bach's suites for solo cello.

The present presents a musical fairy-tale, including songs of Marina Cedro performed by musicians of the Orchestre Philharmonique of Radio France, to an original story by Jean-Luc Fromental. InchOnce upon a time a little girl called Joséphine was living in the heart of the forest. Whatever was she doing in such a dark place, this little girl with a complexion as rosy as the dawn? A question that calls for an explanation... One fine morning, Joséphine was awakened by a melody as gentle as the rising sun, played on a flute at the door of her hut... The boy playing was called Nicolas, a pretty little dog dancing in his footsteps. InchDon't you get bored all alone in here?Inch asks Nicolas. InchNo, everything's fine. Sometimes I miss a little musicInch.Inch

Pierre Henry, a supreme innovator in the field of sound aesthetics, opened the gates to many other musical universes through the applications of his technological research. Fascinated by Beethoven from an early age, he composed a InchTenth SymphonyInch InchIt's not the one Beethoven made sketches for,Inch he said. InchNor is it a synthesis of the nine. It is essentially a combinatorial work. It's also a tribute to the man who hoped to exceed the limits of the orchestra. Perhaps a way of painting my portrait (our portrait) through this music and the influence it has had on mine. It is a dreamlike, logical and respectful trajectory through what these symphonies contain and suggest. The work deliberately uses as Inchraw materialInch only notes, groups or motifs from the nine symphonies.Inch There are three electroacoustic versions, but it is the unpublished symphonic version that is presented here. It was premiered in November 2019 at the Cite de la Musique in the Philharmonie de Paris, by three orchestras, two choirs, and three conductors the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris, the Choeur de Radio France and Le Jeune Choer de Paris under the direction of Pascal Rophe, Bruno Mantovani and Marzena Diakun.