(Music: MUSSORGSKY, Pictures at an Exhibition, Promenade)
- You don't need to study or have a degree,
before you listen for the first time
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Classical music, first of all,
is something that is not coming from a different world
or a different part of the society.
It's a product of our own feelings, our own aspirations,
our worries, our thoughts.
And no matter whether we are in London or in Madrid
or in Tokyo or in Johannesburg or wherever,
it speaks to everyone in the same way.
It's something that you can enjoy purely
in a very spontaneous and instinctive way.
I can feel proud of being part of this,
of a culture or society that is able to create
and to share these amazing creations.
I feel so privileged every single time
I come back here to be part of this family
and to be part of these wonderful musicians.
I have very important memories with this orchestra,
with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
One of them is, it's very special and it's very personal,
as well, because I conducted with them here
at the Royal Festival Hall, my first concert as a father.
I came directly from the hospital,
three days after he was born.
I went to the airport, took a flight,
and then arrived to rehearsal,
directly to conduct Prokofiev 5th Symphony
and Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham,
and this I remember very well.
It's an orchestra that has every single quality
that one would wish, imagine, desire,
in the music-making, and it's really exciting.
You can feel this in every rehearsal,
in every single concert, it feels like
it's the most important concert in their lives.
(Music: MUSSORGSKY, Pictures at an Exhibition)
Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," of course,
is one of the most important pieces of the repertoire,
was originally composed for piano,
but because of the richness of the different pieces,
the richness of the colouristic
and pictorial qualities of the composition,
different composers were seduced to make an orchestration,
and Ravel was one of them.
After knowing the piano original version of Mussorgsky
and then listening to Ravel's imagination, creation,
you can understand even better
what is Ravel's genius on creating
new colours and creating new sonic landscapes.
The most interesting thing is the tension
between the material, so the original material,
harmonic and rhythmic material, or the structure,
and the many different worlds that Ravel
is adding to the piece.
And it's fascinating, when you work with the orchestra,
to focus on a more, let's say, on the French influence
that Ravel's bringing into this purely Russian music.
If, after this concert, you don't fall in love
with classical music, you would never do it.
It's a collection of many of the most sensational,
inspirational, and exciting melodies,
and great orchestral moments,
and all the range of colours
and emotions and feelings
and images an orchestra can provoke in a listener.
(Music: MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition)