Mehldau by Mehldau - Luc Brewaeys Debussy Préludes
Claude Debussy, Préludes (arranged for orchestra by Luc Brewaeys)
- Feux d’artifice (Book 2, No. 12)
- Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest (Book 1, No. 7)
- La fille aux cheveux de lin (Book 1, No. 8)
- La sérénade interrompue (Book 1, No. 9)
- La Cathédral engloutie (Book 1, No. 10)
- La Danse de Puck (Book 1, No. 11)
- Minstrels (Book 1, No. 12)
- La Puerto del Vino (Book 2, No. 3)
- Les collines d'Anacapri (Book 1, No. 5)
Brad Mehldau, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Belgian premiere)
Debussy’s Préludes belong to the canon of piano repertoire. Debussy gave each of these 24 short character pieces a descriptive title (e.g. Danseuses de Delphes, Minstrels and Brouillards). In each case he notated them not at the beginning but at the end of the Préludes, so that the titles should be regarded more as a non-binding afterthought than as a compulsory programme. The Belgian composer Luc Brewaeys has made an orchestral version of the Préludes that is particularly faithful to Debussy’s original. He did not add a single note, stuck to Debussy’s orchestral palette and played a great deal with timbre.
The piano concerto that American jazz legend Brad Mehldau wrote at the request of the Barbican is characterised by many influences. In terms of texture, it is reminiscent of Debussy’s music, but above all of Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage album and of the film music of both Elmer Bernstein and Aaron Copland. The fact that Brad Mehldau is an extremely virtuoso jazz improviser who loves to push the boundaries is tangible at all times.
Clark Rundell, conductor
Brad Mehldau, piano
