{"id":65776,"date":"2020-01-07T11:54:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T16:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=65776"},"modified":"2020-01-07T11:54:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T16:54:26","slug":"primer-philippe-sly-le-chimera-project-reinterpret-schubert-klezmer-folk-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2020\/01\/07\/primer-philippe-sly-le-chimera-project-reinterpret-schubert-klezmer-folk-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"PRIMER | Philippe Sly And Le Chimera Project Reinterpret Schubert With A Klezmer Folk Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly, San Francisco Opera stage director Roy Rallo and Montreal musician F\u00e9lix De L’\u00c9toile talk us through the creation of Le Chimera Project\u2019s Winterreise<\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Philippe
Philippe Sly and Le Chimera Project (Photo courtesy of Columbia Artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another cycle of wintry nights is upon us. Passing the high cusp of the twelve days of Christmas, we now trudge through long darkness, often with wet and cold feet \u2014 the annual return to oneself, by oneself. It\u2019s a process that demands honest reflection, solitude and wafting dreams, both haunting and comforting. Like the seasons, Schubert\u2019s short life of 31 years was full of ups and downs \u2014 fame and happiness, and just as much difficulty and melancholia. Close to end of his life, Schubert immortalized these dark human emotions in Winterreise, Op. 89<\/em>, 24 vignettes of a lonely wanderer, and it remains a favourite for both performers and audience.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most loved of the entire oeuvre of lieder, there are so many reference interpretations of the Winterreise<\/em> (including my personal favourites by Ian Bostridge-Julis Drake<\/a><\/span> and Thomas Quasthoff-Daniel Barenboim<\/a><\/span>), that it feels nearly impossible to look for yet another interpretation; however, 21C Festival<\/a><\/span> dares us exactly that, an alternative Winterreise<\/em><\/a><\/span> \u2014 stemming from the fusing of friendship and curiosity on the evening of January 17, 2020, by the Le Chimera Project<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Philippe\u2019s fascination with Winterreise<\/em> goes back a few years. \u201cWinterreise<\/em> had fascinated me since my first years as an undergrad at McGill University. I was struck by the juxtaposition on the one hand of its devastating emotional impact, and on the other of its quasi-meditative moments of stasis and reflection. I was keen to begin a relationship with the cycle early in my career and return to it continuously, a kind of Wanderstab<\/em> (walking stick) to ground me throughout my life as a singer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Philippe
Philippe Sly (Photo courtesy of Columbia Artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Philippe met Roy Rallo<\/a><\/span> at the San Francisco Opera\u2019s production of The Barber of Seville<\/em> as an Adler Fellow, Philippe felt a strong desire to create a show with Roy. Upon discovering a mutual love of Schubert, both men saw the perfect choice for a project: Winterreise.<\/em><\/p>\n

Exposed to an abundance of Eastern European folk music for the past 10 years, F\u00e9lix De L’\u00c9toile was immersed in experimenting and expanding his horizons in diverse idioms ranging from Bluegrass to Klezmer. Especially fascinated with the experimental world fusion of bands like Toronto\u2019s Lemon Bucket Orkestra and Australians The Barons of Tang, along with his perennial interest in American avant-garde composer John Zorn and his circle of artists, F\u00e9lix began to look in reverse with his clarinet. \u201cIronically, [it] was a backward process \u2014 I began with the avant-garde and went back to learn the more traditional styles,\u201d says F\u00e9lix. To further his quest, F\u00e9lix formed a band with a friend in Montreal, La d\u00e9l\u00e9gation<\/a><\/span>, dedicated to creating interpretations of folk songs from Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, and Turkey, among others.<\/p>\n

Connected through Philippe\u2019s girlfriend, F\u00e9lix first invited Philippe to one of LD\u2019s shows at Quai des Brumes, Montreal, and when Philippe saw F\u00e9lix and Samuel play an arrangement of \u201cGute Nacht\u201d for Samuel\u2019s final undergraduate recital, the pieces started to come together. Philippe and F\u00e9lix zoomed into the idea of rearranging Winterreise<\/em>, and how they could fuse folk idiom to this enigmatic wanderer.<\/p>\n

\u201cF\u00e9lix was familiar with Schubert\u2019s cycle, and suggested Klezmer quartet: violin, trombone, accordion, and clarinet,\u201d says Philippe. \u201c\u2026 The idea was not to create a Klezmer Winterreise<\/em> per se, but to let the limits of this particular instrumentation guide us into rediscovering the piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having worked together on various arrangement projects for accordion and clarinet, F\u00e9lix contacted musician Samuel Carrier, and they decided on adding a violin and a trombone to complete the ensemble. \u201cJonathan was the best violinist we knew, and the three of us already had experience playing together in the anarcho-fanfare band, Tintamare, so it was obvious we would bring him aboard,\u201d says F\u00e9lix. And with the addition of Karine Gordon, they delved into the music. \u201cShe is a very talented and versatile trombone player whom I met kind of randomly at the right moment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

F\u00e9lix and Samuel made the first arrangement of the cycle, splitting the 24 songs between them, each working on their own in a solitary process. With the completed first draft, they all got together and played it through. \u201cThe process of editing came naturally, each of us having our say, trying out different ideas until we unanimously agreed on what was most effective for a particular song,\u201d says Philippe.<\/p>\n

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Philippe Sly and Le Chimera Project (Photo courtesy of Columbia Artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With four instrumentalists and vocalist, the songs vary in their configuration (in ensemble and physical stage format); there are moments when all musicians are performing simultaneously, but they naturally centered toward lieder\u2019s close intimacy. \u201cWe found ourselves more often going back to the pairing of the voice with a single accompanying instrument. This intimate dyad is at the heart of lieder performance, and we wanted it to be valourized in our production,\u201d Philippe explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery few of the original arrangements have survived. It is important to note that this process is still ongoing, as the experience of performing is constantly deepening our understanding of, and relationship to, the piece. We have no choice but to react to this deepening relationship,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Le Chimera Project focused on the final evolution stage during a two-week residency at Domaine Forget<\/a><\/span> in 2017, especially for the staging element of the show. \u201cAs both instrumentalists and vocalist perform entirely from memory, we were physically freed to physically manifest our evolving interpretation of the work,\u201d says Philippe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scope of the project became self-evident as we attempted to stage the show. We were blessed to have the concert hall at Domaine Forget entirely to ourselves for two weeks to create the production. All scenic elements emerged naturally from the intimate musical relationships being embodied on stage,\u201d he says. \u201cTo be completely honest, the initial impetus for the project was pure curiosity. What happens when you put five musicians on stage linked by the common thread of a memorized musical DNA? How can they best embody this music? I would say the current state of the project is plugged into the very same curiosity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since their premiere, Le Chimera Project have toured the production and created a recording<\/a><\/span> (Analekta), which was chosen as one of the 20 favourite Canadian classical albums of 2019<\/a><\/span> by the CBC. However, as LCP\u2019s live presentation draws equally from aural, spatial and theatrical elements, the recording exists as an independent facet. \u201cThe recording cannot represent the production as a whole. It should be taken as its own product. The recording was a way for us to direct our focus at the purely musical elements over a contiguous period. I\u2019m unashamed to say that recording the album was like an extended musical rehearsal! Another step in our developing relationship with this music,\u201d says Philippe. As the group explored the extremes of dynamic and colour available in a studio (which may be near-impossible in a live venue performance), it was a valuable outlet, but it is not a performance.<\/p>\n