Fortissimo Spring 2018

Francisco Coll
Selected
forthcoming
performances
Cantos
German premiere
22.7.18, Kreuzgangkonzerte,
Offenburg, Germany: Dalia Quartet
Four Iberian
Miniatures
US premiere
26.7.18, Tanglewood Festival of
Contemporary Music, Lenox, MA,
USA: Augustin Hadelich/Tanglewood
Festival Orchestra/Thomas Adès
Rizoma
World premiere
30.7.18, Gstaad, Bern, Switzerland:
Patricia Kopatchinskaja/Sol Gabetta
Francisco Coll
Valencia Residency
Francisco Coll has been announced as the inaugural
Composer-in-Residence of the Palau de la Música and the
Orchestra of Valencia, a position spanning the 2018/19
and 2019/20 seasons. The residency will see the Orchestra
of Valencia programme a number of existing pieces, as well
as premiering a new symphonic work. Coll – a native of
Valencia who now lives in Lucerne – will work with young
composers, and will also advise the orchestra on new music
programming in general. A CD recording documenting
the residency is also planned.
Iberian Miniatures in Spain and USA
When Coll’s Four Iberian Miniatures for violin and
chamber orchestra were performed at the BBC Proms,
with Augustin Hadelich and the Britten Sinfonia under
Thomas Adès, The Financial Times described them as
‘like images of Spain seen through an insect’s eye’. The
12-minute work, which flickers with light, colour and
rhythm, received its Spanish premiere in February, with
Chloë Hanslip and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia
under Eugene Tzigane. Hanslip is the fourth violinist
to tackle these flamenco-inspired virtuoso showpieces,
the others being Hadelich, Pekka Kuusisto and Noa
Wildschut (a protégé of Anne-Sophie Mutter). Hadelich
and Adès will give the US premiere of the miniatures at the
Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music in July.
A recording of ‘Mural’
In January the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España and
Cristóbal Soler recorded Coll’s Mural after a performance
in Zaragoza. The recording vividly captures this impressive
work, particularly in the finale, which opens up vast,
almost Brucknerian vistas before its unsettling conclusion,
where a glimpse of E-major evaporates, leaving a dark
cluster in the lower strings.
The 24-minute piece – Coll’s most ambitious to date –
premiered in 2016 by the Orchestre Philharmonique du
Luxembourg under Gustavo Gimeno, then toured the UK
in 2017 with Thomas Adès conducting the National Youth
Orchestra of Great Britain.
Duo for Kopatchinskaja and Gabetta
Coll has composed a violin-cello duo, entitled Rizoma, for
Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta. The five-minute
work will be premiered in Bern in July, and Coll describes
it as the rhizome of a Double Concerto ‘Les Plaisirs
Illuminés’, that he is currently writing for the duo.
‘Stella’ impresses
Faber Music has published the score of Coll’s imposing
motet Stella to coincide with its premiere in late February.
Commissioned by Stephen Fry for Suzi Digby OBE and
the Singers of ORA, the five-minute reflection on Tomás
Luis de Victoria’s Ave Maris Stella has been recorded for
release next year. Full details can be found on page 28.
‘Stella impressed with its emotional range, volatile
dynamics and transitory grinding harmonies.’
The Times (Geoff Brown), 27 February 2018
Guitar concerto channels Flamenco
Turia, a new guitar concerto in five movements
commissioned by Christian Karlsen and Norrbotten NEO,
received three performances in Sweden in December with
Jacob Kellermann as soloist. The 18-minute work for
guitar and seven players takes its name from the dried-up
river in Valencia which now hosts gardens, fountains, cafés,
and even an opera house by architect Santiago Calatrava.
‘As a child,’ Coll explains, ‘I used to walk in this unusual
river, full of light, flowers and people. I always thought
that one day I would write the music of this river. When
Christian Karlsen contacted me, I immediately knew
that this was my opportunity to write a piece for guitar
and ensemble with Spanish luminosity. This soundscape
evokes the light and the respective shadows of my country.’
Flamenco is very much in the surface of this work,
although it is always filtered through Coll’s distinctive
sonorous imagination.
Speaking to Valencia’s Levante newspaper, Karlsen said:
‘It has a very Spanish flavour without falling into clichés
and its use of flamenco is very personal. It is definitely one
of the most important concertos for guitar, and a great
addition to the existing pieces by Rodrigo and Villalobos.
I hope I can give the Spanish premiere of this mystical,
expressive and exciting work soon’.
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PHOTO: FRANCISCO COLL © JUDITH COLL; CHRISTIAN KARLSEN, FRANCISCO COLL AND JACOB KELLERMANN REHEARSING ‘TURIA’