The childhood memory has lost none of its intensity. During his musical studies in St. Petersburg, the young Semyon Bychkov slipped between two classes backstage at the neighboring concert hall. One fine day, emerges from the silence a music as it feels “stunned. I forgot to go back to class! “.
The work responsible for this astonishment? There 3rd Symphony the Gustav Mahler. “A composer whose name I didn’t even know. A founding experience. Of those who change your life. » Since then, the conductor has never interrupted his companionship with a musician whose “Each note speaks of the human condition, of all the sweetness and all the violence of life. We never get to the end of the crossing”. Semyon Bychkov has refined, deepened, deepened his relationship with Mahler, without ever getting tired. “Even if certain symphonies slipped away: the luminous and delicate 4th which I feared to brutalize; the 9th that I scheduled then canceled four times before I started! The 7th, remained an enigma for a long time before its doors opened…”, details the conductor.
The Gustav Mahler Challenge
On a large scale, these scores pose real challenges to their performers. “Like a marathon runner who thinks of giving up after five kilometers but finds the energy to continue, you move forward at all costs, feeling the energy of the public behind you. The second time, the sensations are no less harsh but you know you will get there! », explains the musician. In Aix, he is delighted to give the 6th of these symphonies, called “tragic”, at the head of the Czech Philharmonic, of which he has been the musical director since 2018 (1). “Mahler started his life in Bohemia, his roots are there. With the exception of two of them, the 123 members of the orchestra are Czech, deeply attached to their country, to its landscapes: you can hear it. »
Just as it is perceived “this grating, painful humor” that Mahler gives birth to in the hollow of his melodies, manhandling the timbres of the instruments, distorting popular tunes, exaggerating slightly wobbly rhythms. “The Czech Philharmonic has existed for 126 years, its first concert was conducted by the composer Antonin Dvorak. It is legitimate that its musicians are proud of it. But without arrogance, and I admire them for that,” enthuses the conductor, who records a complete recording with them… Gustav Mahler (2).
Semyon Bychkov has explored a vast repertoire. From his native Russia (in 1952) to Provence, which he knows well for having been invited several times to its summer opera festival, passing through Buffalo, Paris, Cologne or Dresden where he successively held the position of musical director. His eloquent gestures and passionate commitment ignite the great romantic pages, excellent in Wagner (a memorable Tristan at the Paris Opera) and Richard Strauss (a recent Elektra white-hot, also at the Bastille). “For me, all beautiful music is modern, because the desire that inhabited its author still touches us today. Cultural codes have evolved, human passions remain the same. »
Citizen of the world
With pain but without a shadow of hesitation, this citizen of the world, married to the French pianist Marielle Labèque, very quickly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, defending the “dream of independence” of a country whose creative uniqueness he supports. He will no doubt think about it when launching the first measures of the tragic symphony which is said to have “terrified” Mahler himself by the drama that seems to be at play there.
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Ask for the program!
10th edition of the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival from March 31 to April 16.
Its artistic director, violinist Renaud Capuçon, opens the ban in a film music program and closes it on April 16 with a carte blanche with many young musicians.
Between these two milestones: the Lausanne Vocal Ensemble in Mozart and Rossini; there Passion according to Saint Matthew of Bach under the direction of Christophe Rousset; a recital by pianist Alexandre Kantorow; The Phantom Ship by Wagner under the direction of François-Xavier Roth; Martha Argerich and Lahav Shani at two pianos…
Clean. :festivalpaques.com