George Benjamin, creativity in its purest form

This is a brilliant edition of the Festival Présences which has just ended at Radio France. The event, founded by Claude Samuel almost thirty years ago, offered the English composer George Benjamin a portrait commensurate with his excellence. Here we have an old-fashioned master, who does not run the happening or the experimentation, but isolates himself for months to chisel scores that have the purity of diamonds. Nothing is left to chance, and yet music seems to be constantly invented. If the gesture of the conductor Benjamin is not foolproof technicality (we have surprised several desk leaders beating time for their colleagues), he knows exactly how to make his captivating music sound. If we hear some reminiscences of Messiaen in his recent Duet for piano , very pleasant without being a major revelation, we are once again confused by his mastery of the orchestra in the dazzling Palimpsests , which superimposes the musical layers

This article is for subscribers only. You have 74% left to discover.

Subscribe: € 1 for 2 months

cancellable at any time

Already subscribed? Login