The People United. Frederic Rzewski + Ingrid Schmoliner
Friday, 29. November 2019, 19:30
Frederic Rzewski © MaerzMusik/Camille Blake
Frederic Rzewski’s monumental cycle of piano variations ›The People United‹ was long deemed unplayable. Or, more modestly in the composer’s own words: »it’s long and it’s difficult—the pianist gets tired. And I think it’s important to hear that. When it’s recorded in the studio you don’t hear this physical fatigue that is actually part of this music.« The effort concerns a major theme: the song of the same name by Sergio Ortega became a symbol of resistance to the military dictatorship in Chile in 1973. For the bicentenary of American independence, Rzewski’s work was a memorial against the bloody coup that toppled the Chilean government, as well as against the excesses of capitalism. The »milestone in the history of piano music« (New York Times) is topical again today. Giving the fourth performance of The People United in gehe Wiener Konzerthaus (after Ursula Oppens in 1993, Marc-André Hamelin in 2003 and Igor Levit in 2016), will be the composer himself this time. The 81-year-old »performs his sometimes neck-breaking piece with a technique that is still phenomenal and with powerful expression«, the weekly Die Zeit wrote recently following his »triumphant concert« in Frankfurt. In the spirit of this musical call for solidarity, Wien Modern will then give the stage to Ingrid Schmoliner for the world premiere of a piece she conceived especially for the occasion. With her transcendental, minimalistic and magical sound, the 40-year-old pianist, improviser and composer pays tribute to the awakening free music scene in Vienna.
»It's bad enough that the avant-garde has crumbled so simply and without sound. But the fact that capitalism still hasn’t been defeated either, that can get you down.« (Frederic Rzewski)
Artists
Frederic Rzewski,
Klavier
Ingrid Schmoliner,
Klavier
Alexander Yannilos,
Klangregie
Program
Frederic Rzewski
The people united will never be defeated (1975)
***
Ingrid Schmoliner
MNEEM (2019) UA
Kompositionsauftrag von Wien Modern mit freundlicher Unterstützung von Bundeskanzleramt Österreich und Stadt Wien Kultur
Remark
Produktion von Wien Modern in Koproduktion mit Wiener Konzerthaus