NEC Philharmonia + David Loebel: Mendelssohn, Ravel, Abels, Debussy

Felix Mendelssohn | Overture to the Fairy Tale of the Fair Melusina, op. 32

Maurice Ravel | Ma mère l'Oye (Mother Goose)

Prélude - Très lent
Premier tableau
     Danse du rouet et scène (Spinning wheel dance and scene)
Deuxième tableau
     Pavane de la belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty pavane)
Interlude
Troisième tableau
     Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête (Dialogues of the Beauty and the Beast)
Interlude
Quatrième tableau
     Petit Poucet (Hop-o'-My-Thumb)
Interlude
Cinquième tableau
      Laideronnette, impératrice des Pagodes (Empress of the Pagodas)
Interlude
Sixième tableau
     Le jardin féerique (Fairy Garden)

INTERMISSION

Michael Abels | Global Warming (1990)

Program note

Global Warming (1990) is an orchestral work that uses the term to describe the warming of international relations that was happening in the world at that time.  The Berlin Wall had just come down, the Cold War was declared over.  "I wanted to write a piece that explored the similarities heard between music of various cultures," Abels said.  "It begins with a desert scene, a depiction of a futuristic vast desert, with desert locusts buzzing in the background.  But soon the piece turns quite uplifting.  There are elements of Irish music, African music, Persian rhythms, drones, blended to display their commonalities in a way that is often quite joyous.  But rather than end happily, the piece suddenly returns to its original, stark, desert scene, leaving it to the listener to decide which version of global warming they prefer.  At the time of its premiere, global warming was not the politically charged term it is today.  The piece was not written as a political statement, but its political message has inevitably deepened as climate change has evolved from theory into reality.

Claude Debussy | La Mer, L. 109

De l'aube à midi sur la mer (From dawn to noon on the sea)
Jeux de vagues (Play of the Waves)
Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the wind and the sea)

NEC Philharmonia