Interview with pianist Hugues Leclere
The programme for the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra's 2nd subscription concert on 12 October will include, apart from works by Manuel de Falla and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, also Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major by Maurice Ravel, featuring French soloist Hugues Leclere. If this name sounds familiar to you, it might be because the performer worked with SOČR two years ago. In November 2007 he performed Mozart's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 23 in A major under conductor Ondrej Lenárd. On this occasion, he will be partnered, alongside PRSO, by Spanish conductor Manuel Hernández-Silva. Thanks to email and Hugues's cooperation, we were able to ask him the following questions in advance:
Is Ravel a good offer for you? Or was it even your own choice?
Both! The concerto in G is a wonderful work. Ravel arrives to integer all his influence without losing his personality. It's a very "happy" piece, and we have to say that's not so common in music history. The transitions between musical jokes and tenderness are so delicate, full of energy, burlesque but never vulgar. I had two years ago a fantastic contact with winds in the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, so I was very excited to perform this work, who is not only a masterpiece for the pianist, but also for trumpet, English horn, oboe, flute, horn, harp! Like a great symphony concertante. And after playing the second movement, you can die without regrets, it's magical.
How often do you perform this concerto?
I played it in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. I will play it again on the 23rd and 24th October in Mexico with the national orchestra.
What other composers would you highlight as dear to you?
In our time, it's a rule to be specialized in every domain, especially in music. But I have to confess that I like each good music. We have the big chance that music is universal language, and I wonder to discover each genius from everywhere through his works. It's every time a new particular world to discover, to understand, and I like to arrive to be accepted inside, and to become familiar with. I would like to learn all the repertory, but life is not unlimited. That's the principal reason to organize concerts for my colleagues: it's a good way to extend my limited capacities and to be able to listen and offer to the public more repertory that I could perform by myself.
Now you are probably speaking about your position as artistic director of the Nancyphonies festival in Nancy. Could you introduce a little bit this project?
We do 40 concerts each summer, from solo recital to orchestral programs. We organize also one of the most important masterclasses in Europe, with nearly 500 excellent students coming from 20 countries, in Nancy and now also in Paris where I live. It's a fantastic laboratory for music, and an incredible life experience. I created it when I was 21 years old, 20 years ago, but I'm absolutely not tired of this, I feel still fresh in mind: music is never the same, it's a perfect metaphor of life.
How about Czech musicians, do you have some friends among them?
I'm impressed of course by the rich artistic history of Czech Republic. Regarding music, I have a fantastic memory about my playing with the orchestra two years ago. I remember an ensemble absolutely lively, adaptive and of course of top musical quality. It's very rare to be able to play a concerto like chamber music, and it was a fantastic experience. I played also with Talich Quartet and I like them very much. They arrive to keep perfectly intact their respect for music and they are not only excellent, but also "humanists". In addition, they represent as well, like radio orchestra, the idiomatic way of string playing, typical for the Czech school: brilliant, lifeful and very sensible. A pleasure to play with them.
What are your main artistic tasks for the near future?
Busy but happy! I will play all the Chopin piano works with orchestra in chamber music version, with my friends of Berliner Philharmoniker Streichquintett. And I have just created a spectacle about Alma and Gustav Mahler, with two comedians and soprano, and we will perform it again in several places... One very special program with flute: transcriptions of Latino popular songs by a great French jazz composer. Tango, salsa, bossa, all with sensual harmonies and beautiful melodies. I like so much the association with different forms of art!
