ENSEMBLE COURT-CIRCUIT PRESENTS CONCERT AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE
March 22, 2018
Williamstown, Massachusetts—Paris-based Ensemble Court-circuit presents “En Miroir (Mirrored),” a concert featuring the works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Helmut Lachenmann, at the Clark Art Institute on Sunday, April 22 at 3 pm. Performers include soloists Pierre Dutrieu, clarinet, Frédéric Baldassare, cello, and Jean-Marie Cottet, piano. Tickets are $20 ($18 for Clark members) and may be purchased online at clarkart.edu or by calling the box office at 413 458 0524. The concert will be held in the auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
Included in the program are Helmut Lachenmann’s Allegro sostenuto for clarinet, cello, and piano and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio No. 4 op. 11 for clarinet, cello, and piano. Lachenmann and Beethoven, two great creative minds separated by a century, influenced generations of subsequent composers and changed the course of music history.
The “Mirrored” series pairs classical compositions with contemporary ones. The inaugural concert in 2014 juxtaposed Philippe Hurel’s cycle for violin and cello with Maurice Ravel’s stunning sonata. In the following iteration in 2016, Marc Monnet “played along” with a piece by Leoš Janáček. In 2017, the ensemble paired two pieces for violin, horn, and piano by Johannes Brahms and György Ligeti, now both touchstones for chamber music.
For this fourth edition, the “duel” takes place between Lachenmann’s famous Allegro sostenuto and Beethoven’s Trio opus 11. These two major German composers stunned their contemporaries with their compositional and instrumental audacity, with their instinct for form, and with their originality.
ABOUT ENSEMBLE COURT-CIRCUIT
Ensemble Court-circuit, a Paris–based ensemble of contemporary chamber orchestra, is composed of musicians from major French orchestras who have been members of the Ensemble since its inception in 1991. Members of Court-circuit are committed to finding bridges to modernism from works from centuries past.
Ensemble Court-circuit is involved in interdisciplinary projects that go beyond the sphere of contemporary music. After working with the Paris Opera, the ensemble created two chamber operas in partnership with the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord and collaborated with the Opera Comique on the opera La Princesse légère, composed by Violeta Cruz and directed by Jos Houben (premiered in 2017).
Ensemble Court-circuit is assisted by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Ile-de-France in the context of the program of Compagnies et ensembles à Rayonnement national et international (CERNI). Its action is financed by the Région Ile-de-France in the context of the aide à la permanence artistique et culturelle. It also receives subsidies from SACEM and SPEDIDAM.
This concert receives support from the Bureau export, the French Institute, and the Cultural services of the French Embassy in the United States.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 270,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; EBT Card to Culture; Bank of America Museums on Us; and Blue Star Museums. For more information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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