Constella Finale Features Thibaudet
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet said it in French for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in April. He will say it again for the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts Nov. 6 at Memorial Hall in Cincinnati, this time with music by Claude Debussy.
The 7:30 p.m. recital, dubbed “Divine Debussy,” commemorates the 150th anniversary of the French composer’s birth. It will be the grand finale of the 2012 Constella Festival.
A native of Lyon, France, Thibaudet is one of today’s most celebrated musicians, with activities spanning the concert and recording worlds, film, jazz, TV -- even haute couture fashion, with concert attire by noted designer Vivienne Westwood. He has performed with the world’s top symphony orchestras and in venues from Carnegie Hall to Perth, Australia with artists including soprano Renee Fleming and violinist Joshua Bell.
Thibaudet’s recordings – over 40 on the Decca label -- have won fistfuls of prizes, including France’s Diapason d’Or, Germany’s Schallplattenpreis, two ECHO Awards and the Edison Prize. He was the soloist on the Oscar-winning soundtrack to the film “Atonement,” also “Pride and Prejudice” (Oscar-nominated) and most recently, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” His CD “Gershwin,” features big band jazz orchestrations of “Rhapsody in Blue,” variations on “I Got Rhythm” and the Concerto in F with the Baltimore Symphony led by Marin Alsop. As a philanthropist, Thibaudet has served as president of the Hospices de Beaune, an annual charity auction in Burgundy, France.
Thibaudet was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France in 2001.
On his program in Cincinnati are the following, all by Debussy:
Préludes, Deuxieme Livre/Book 2
I Brouillards
II Feuilles mortes
III La Puerta del Vino
IV “Les Fées sont d’exquises danseuses”
V Bruyères
VI General Lavine – eccentric
VII La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune
VIII Ondine
IX Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C.
X Canope
XI Les tierces alternées
XII Feux d’Artifice
Suite Bergamasque
Prélude
Meneut
Clair de Lune
Passepied
Estampes
Pagodes
La soirée dans Grenade
Jardins sous la pluie
L’Isle joyeuse
Tickets are $20-50, available at http://tinyurl.com/9df7vr7, and include after-party at Memorial Hall with refreshments, a viewing area with live feed of the presidential election and an exhibition featuring artists from Cincinnati’s 5th Street Gallery.
For further information, visit www.constellafestival.org