Soprane, Chef d’Orchestre, Compositeur, Violon, Violoncelle… tous radieux à la fin du très beau Concert !
Un mois après la visite de Barack OBAMA, voici à Prague le Maestro Marlon DANIEL
Melissa CINTRON
Merveilles de la technique, nous avons ici quelques nouvelles du Concert de Marlon DANIEL à Prague ce samedi 6 juin 2009. Nous savons par ailleurs que le Concert a été d’une qualité exceptionnelle, même si le public a été restreint, la vente des billets et la publicité ayant été fortement « empêchées ».
Musiciens, Compositeur, Chef d’Orchestre et quelques invités privilégiés ont été reçus le lendemain dans un château fort (Citadelle) à quelques 3 heures de Prague. Un Grand merci à Monsieur Frank Kuznik pour son autorisation à utiliser son très beau papier du PRAGUE POST. Nous avons apprécié cette comparaison avec le passage du Président OBAMA le mois dernier à Prague avec les mots d’espoir que l’on sait. Voici donc Marlon DANIEL ouvrant d’autres perspectives. Nous avons demandé à Frank quelques mots supplémentaires sur le Concert lui même et quelques photographies.
Mais nous savons qu’il y a eu pendant ce concert, un vrai moment de grâce : lorsque la divine Melissa termine son chant… l’orchestre, le chef d’orchestre, le public restent comme suspendus dans un silence religieux… Marlon avouera plus tard avoir été tout simplement ému et pendant un instant a cru que tout le monde avait quitté la salle de spectacle tellement le silence était profond… Le temps de se reprendre, de se retourner vers la salle pour recevoir les applaudissements d’un public conquis… d’un geste de la main il offre cet hommage à Melissa puis d’un autre geste plus ample à la Sinfonietta de Prague, particulièrement inspirée et enfin aux deux solistes. Petit détail et non des moindres : Melissa, dans une splendide robe blanche ne cachait pas sa grossesse de près de 7 mois ; une future parturiente, Soprane Colorature, Belle, Souriante, Emouvante et toute à son art… il y a de quoi troubler tous les auditoires du monde !
Le Compositeur Hampson Sisler était aussi de la fête pour entendre la première mondiale de sa nouvelle composition « Phoenix Forever ». L’Orchestre, les Solistes sous la direction d’un Chef prestigieux offraient à la salle une vision étonnante de cet oiseau mythique et légendaire dans les phases successives de sa vie, de sa mort et de sa renaissance. Le nom de Sisler méritait ce soir de figurer auprès de ceux de Brahms et de Mahler.
On ne doit pas oublier enfin les deux jeunes solistes Hristo Popov au violon et Kalin Ivanov au violoncelle : ils sont tous les deux originaires de Bulgarie et vivent aux USA : ils ont été transcendants et lumineux… adorables aura dit une spectatrice visiblement sous le charme…
Suddenly it’s the season of impressive African-Americans showing up in Prague. Just two months ago, President Barack Obama stood at the gates of Prague Castle and told an audience of 30,000 that, if his election was possible, so is a world free of nuclear weapons. This weekend, another native Chicagoan hopes to establish some benchmarks of his own.
Marlon Daniel, an up-and-coming African-American conductor, will be leading the Praga Sinfonietta this weekend in an ambitious program of Brahms and Mahler, along with the world premiere of a new work by American composer Hampson Sisler. His appearance is not as much of a stretch as it might seem. Daniel has not only conducted at the Rudolfinum before; he studied at the Prague Music Academy (HAMU) and the Prague Conservatory, earning postgraduate degrees from both.
« I thank the Czech Republic for helping me get the training I needed at a crucial point in my life, » he says. « I’m not sure I would have gotten the same opportunities in the U.S. »
Daniel grew up in a bad neighborhood on the west side of Chicago, where drugs and gangs ruled the streets. « For me, it was a type of prison, and I was desperate to get out, » he recalls. « Music provided me with hope and the means for escape. »
Marlon Daniel
Praga Sinfonietta
When: Saturday, June 6, at 7:30
Where: Rudolfinum
Tickets: 150-700 Kč, available through Ticketpro and at the venue
He fell in love with classical music at the age of 7, watching « Live from Lincoln Center » on television with his grandmother, who was instrumental in encouraging and supporting his musical education. Daniel excelled at piano and cello, and still occasionally performs as a concert pianist. (He’s also a ballet dancer and holds two silver medals in judo.) He studied domestically at the Manhattan School of Music, and abroad at conservatories in France and Spain. But his big break came in the summer of 2003, at a conductor’s workshop in Hradec Králové, where he caught the eye of Praga Sinfonietta founder, music director and conductor Miriam Němcová.
« Miriam thought I had a natural affinity for Czech music, » Daniel says. « She offered me a position with the Praga Sinfonietta, which had never previously been offered to a foreigner. I accepted on the spot. »
Less than two years later, in February 2005, Daniel made an inauspicious debut at the Rudolfinum.
« It was a great concert that I worked very hard on, but Mother Nature had different plans, » he says. « There was a huge snowstorm, and hardly even the main floor of the hall was filled. I vowed never to give another concert in Prague in the middle of winter! »
The weather should be more cooperative this time, and the program is fresh and substantive. Sisler’s Phoenix Forever follows the mythical bird through its phases of life, death and rebirth, ending in what Daniel describes as a « cadence of confidence, flying off into a new life. » The Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor will pair Daniel with two well-regarded Bulgarian soloists, Kalin Ivanov (cello) and Hristo Popov (violin). And Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 features an outstanding young American singer, lyric coloratura soprano .
« Melissa has one of the most angelic voices in the opera world today, » Daniel says. « I got the chance to work with her in a performance of Ariadne auf Naxos, and I think she is a big star in the making. »
For a long time, black musicians who found limited opportunities or battled outright prejudice in the States have been coming to Europe, where audiences tended not to judge them by their color. Daniel hasn’t faced the same discrimination that drove, for example, legendary singer Marian Anderson or jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon abroad. But he is certainly aware of what he represents.
« As an African-American conductor in Europe, I feel I’m seen as something exotic, interesting and sometimes new, » he says. « In America, there’s still a lack of people of color in classical orchestras, and I think it’s been exceptionally hard for African-American conductors. But I don’t find this as much a detriment as a challenge. If Obama can become the first African-American president, I feel I can become the first African-American music director of a major American symphony orchestra, or its international equivalent. I feel that I too can become a role model – and given the opportunity, I will. »
Frank Kuznik can be reached at
fkuznik@praguepost.com
http://www.praguepost.com/night-and-day/stage/1462-pioneer-at-the-podium.html
Voici les bandes annonces de ce concert sur YOUTUBE. Dommage que le Publique de Prague n’ait pas plus participé
Guadeloupe Attitude 