Claude Debussy is one of the most beloved and imaginative of all composers. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth later this year, Maestro Piotr Gajewski has put together four evenings featuring a sampling of his remarkable output. The first on Saturday evening welcomes favorite artists Brian Ganz and Richard Stoltzman accompanied by the orchestra. The program opens with the “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” and closes with “La Mer,” Debussy’s largest work in three movements. Two years after beginning it in France, he completed it across the English Channel in Eastbourne. The journey over those waters, was as close as he ever got to the ocean during his lifetime.
“As I planned the festival, I wanted to put together several concerts that would give a sample of Debussy’s work,” Gajewski said. “The first piece begins with a great flute solo that was popularized by the film ‘Fantasia.’ Then Brian plays the ‘Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra,’ a very early work that’s rarely heard. I suggested that Richard follow it with ‘Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra,’ which Debussy originally wrote for piano and clarinet, then later orchestrated. ‘La Mer,’ the final piece of the evening, ties them all together.
“Debussy’s music is so very different from what came before. I love his harmonic language. He uses so many tools and employs them broadly with whole tone scales and pentatonic scales stretched in different directions. From a conductor’s point of view, I love how he uses the colors of the woodwinds, the horns and trumpets. Harps are omnipresent in his music casting everything in wonderful colors.”
| Onstage |
| Debussy Festival |
| » Where: Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| » When: 8 p.m. Saturday; 7:30 p.m. May 10 and 17; 8 p.m. May 19 |
| » Info: $28 to $81, kids free; 301-581-5100; nationalphilharmonic.org |
On May 10 pianist Katie Mahan will present a recital of favorite solo works, among them the melodic “Estampes” with its oriental flavor and “L’isle joyeuse” filled with excitement as the title suggests. The following Thursday, members of the National Philharmonic and Friends will perform the composer’s Piano Trio, Cello Sonata, Violin Sonata and String Quartet. All are impressionistic, bursting with melody and designed to bring out the beauty of the solo instruments. Both evenings are preceded by a lecture given by WETA’s David Ginder.
The festival concludes on May 19, with Debussy’s “Martyrdom of St. Sebastian,” a beautiful and rarely performed choral work conducted by National Philharmonic’s Choral Artistic Director Stan Engebretson. This is the Washington area premiere of the composer’s only work for chorus and orchestra.
“It’s a pleasure to play to a full concert hall with wonderful acoustics where we can hear all the parts. I am certain that the audiences attending our Debussy festival will have renewed interest in Debussy and his various forms of music,” Gajewski said.
