Preview
HONENS CIRQUE NOUVEAU
Saturday, September 13
Jack Singer Concert Hall
As part of their artistic vision, the Honens International Piano Competition is constantly searching for the complete artist, and this search takes them to some pretty strange places. The circus is not a place one would expect to find a pianist, but as a precursor to this year’s competition, Honens offers a unique collaboration of music, space and movement with Montreal’s Cirque Éloize.
The collaboration, entitled Cirque Nouveau, brings together classical music and the art of "new circus," as members of the internationally celebrated troupe Cirque Éloize team with Honens Laureates Katherine Chi, Marko Martin and Alessandra Maria Ammara, as well as Canada’s acclaimed St. Lawrence String Quartet, in a program of music inspired by music. Showcasing this intangible connection, Cirque Éloize combines artistic sensibility, originality and virtuosity to create a work of art very similar to a breathtaking piece of music.
Honens general manager Stephen McHolm believes that this type of partnership will help keep people excited about classical music. "What we’re trying to do is an integration of classical music and circus," says McHolm. "When presenting classical music, I don’t think you need to dumb it down to get people interested in it. Here, we are wanting to create a mood and I think the circus with the music will be a pretty magical experience."
The program consists of five works, each utilizing the space of the hall and the movement and sound of the various performers – be they violinist or contortionist. The evening fittingly begins with Igor Stravinsky’s Circus Polka, a work originally commissioned by the Ringling Brothers for 50 young elephants and 50 beautiful girls. The St. Lawrence String Quartet then takes the stage for two works, with Brazilian composer Raimundo Penaforte’s Tango for Seven and the highly dramatic String Quartet No. 3 written by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. The Quartet is no stranger to collaborations of this nature, having worked earlier this year with Pilobolus, a major American dance company of international influence.
As violinist Geoff Nuttall admits, initially they weren’t quite sure what they were getting into, but taking chances and crossing a few musical boundaries in the process is what the quartet is known for.
"It’s a little bit of a departure for us but we’re excited," says Nuttall. "The music we are performing is very conducive to interpretive movement. The Schafer String Quartet is over-the-top… And the Tango is really a rock-and-roll-type piece. It’s interesting how the music really lends itself to the movement of (the) troupe."
The virtuosic element of the music is also illustrated in the amazing physicality of the members of Cirque Éloize. According to spokesperson Vincent Messager, the collaborating performers were chosen for very specific reasons. Like Honens’ complete musician, Messager speaks of embracing all forms of art and while this circus won’t have lions, elephants and clowns, it will have something just as exciting.
"It takes about three to five years to create a five-minute circus act," says Messager. "The performers were chosen because they were open and free to do something with music they had never worked with before. We like to offer challenges to our artists that further them in their art. They are people wanting to enhance and discover their art. They are real artists." |
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