Klaus Mäkelä to conduct Concertgebouw Orchestra in Debussy, Ravel and a commissioned work by Sally Beamish
Beamish' Distans featuring Janine Jansen (violin) and artist in residence Martin Fröst (clarinet)
On Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 April, Klaus Mäkelä will be conducting the Royal Concertgebopuw Orchestra in the Netherlands premiere of Sally Beamish' Distans, featuring violinist Janine Jansen and clarinettist Martin Fröst as soloists. The world premiere was originally scheduled for 2021, when Janine Jansen was the orchestra's artist in residence, but the performance was postponed due to the covid pandemic. Distans will now be performed as part of the current residency of Martin Fröst.
Klaus Mäkelä, the Concertgebouw Orchestra's artistic partner, will also be conducting Claude Debussy's Images and Jeux and Maurice Ravel's famous Bolero.
Sally Beamish' Distans
Sally Beamish composed her double concerto Distans especially with Janine Jansen and Martin Fröst in mind. 'Janine's playing is imposing, but also sensitive and refined, while Martin's playing is inspiring because of its physicality and rhythmic drive.'
Based in Scotland, the composer was inspired by the pandemic, which caused a long-term distance from her children, who live in Sweden. Distans refers to Scottish, Swedish and Dutch folk music. ‘At the beginning, the two soloists shout to each other from a great distance in a kind of kulning, the shrill cries used by Swedish herdsmen to round up their cattle', the composer explains. 'At other times, violin and clarinet interact with the orchestra as one integrated entity.'
In her orchestration, Beamish taps into the sounds of folk instruments such as the lur and nyckelharpa from Sweden and the bagpipes, fiddle and Celtic harp that are so characteristic of Scotland. 'I also refer to old Dutch dance rhythms and recorder music.'
Thematic programme
The themes brought up by Distans – distance versus proximity, dance, traditional music from a variety of regions – are reflected in the rest of the programme as well, with Debussy's ballet score Jeux , the same composer's symphonic 'postcard' triptych, Images, and Ravel's Bolero, which was inspired by a Spanish dance.