Ph. Hersant: Bamyan (Constance Luzzati, harp)

Описание: Ph. Hersant: Bamyan
Constance Luzzati, harp

"In this piece I remember a music heard in Afghanistan, this beautiful country that I had the chance to visit before the devastating wars... Bamyan is the city were the two giant Buddhas stand nestled in a cliff, destroyed a few years ago by the Talibans. The music I've heard is never out of my memory and I quote it repeatedly in my piece - which gives it an undeniable oriental fragrance. Bamyan was written for Contest International Harp Laskine Lily as the set piece in 2002. It is dedicated to Marielle Nordman." (Philippe HERSANT)

The French composer, Philippe Hersant, was born in Rome in 1948. His studies included literature as well as music and he took harmony classes with Georges Hugon before entering André Jolivet's composition class at the Paris Conservatory in 1968, receiving his undergraduate degree in literature that same year. Resident at the Casa de Velásquez. From 1970 to 1972, Philippe Hersant went on to teach music and to become a producer at the radio station France Musiques. In 1978 he became a resident at the Villa Médicis thanks to the support of Henri Dutilleux and Gilbert Amy. It was during this period that he truly came into his own as a composer. Stances for orchestra thus became his new first opus and is the earliest work in his catalogue. This piece was followed by several other, more melancholic works such as Missa brevis, the chamber opera les Visites espacées (Avignon, 1983) and the opera le Château des Carpathes (1982), based on a work by Jules Verne. He composed a number of shorter and more dynamic works for small instrumental ensembles before returning to the orchestral and greater forms with his Second Concerto for cello and the ballet Hurlevent (Palais-Garnier, 2002). He is currently working on an opera based on a Chekhov story, The Black Monk, and this will be premiered by the Leipzig Opera in 2005. Today, Philippe Hersant defines himself as a tonal composer willing to turn music's entire heritage -- from Monteverdi to Janacek to Stockhausen -- to his advantage. As a composer, he lives by a few precepts : to be personal rather than to seek innovation at all costs, to avoid greyness and to surprise. ( www.philippehersant.com )

With an amazing energy, a deep understanding of music, and a permanent search to discover new repertoires, Constance Luzzati "wipes away, in one single sweep, all the stereotypes which still make solo harp sometimes look like a weird, austere animal". Hailed by La Lettre du musicien for "her acute sense of musicality, of phrasing, of ornamentation of baroque — perfectly rendered by the harp — and a surprising virtuosity", Constance Luzzati devotes herself mostly to early and contemporary music, out of personal inclination for these repertoires as well as artistic commitment. She believes the repertoire of her instrument could be fruitfully widened with quality new or early music pieces. She is currently working toward a PhD on the transcription for the harp of the French harpsichord repertoire. She also collaborates regularly with contemporary composers, world-premiering works for solo harp by Bruno Mantovani (2006) and Edith Lejet (2011). Constance Luzzati has earned Master's degrees in harp, in musicology, and in musical analysis, at the famous Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. She received the Avant-Scènes Prize in 2006, the highest award given to a CNSM postgraduate student. Her principal harp trainers were Isabelle Moretti and Germaine Lorenzini. She has also studied baroque harp at the Scuola Civica in Milan, with Mara Galassi. Additionally, she has been receiving great artistic guidance for early music from the harpsichord player Kenneth Weiss since 2006, as a postgraduate and PhD professor.

All pictures and information were taken from the internet.