Heisser Verdacht

The interpretation of the five concertos presented by Jean-François Heisser and his chamber orchestra offers an insight into the evolution of Beethoven’s style during the decisive ten years or so over which he composed them, on the cusp of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In short, it demonstrates how the improvisatory virtuoso pianist of the first two concertos, conceived at the very end of the eighteenth century in the tradition of Mozart and Haydn asserted his credentials as a composer in his own right with the Third Concerto in the first years of the nineteenth century, before reaching a summit with the surprises of his last two works in the genre.

Les Siècles is one of France's finest early music ensembles, and its work in repertoire from the Baroque era to the Romantic period is fascinating for its precision, attention to historical details, and most of all, commitment to original instrumentation.

Without a doubt, it is urgent to get back to essentials, to retrace the path from the canyons to the stars, to celebrate "the beauties of the earth (it's rocks, it's birdsongs), the beauties of the material sky, the beauties of the spiritual sky" as Messiaen writes at the head of his score. According to Jean-François Heisser, "there is a grandeur in this work that sweeps aside reservations about the composer; something in the music escapes us and instantly grips the audience". One cannot deny this work exemplifies the "too big for me" of which Gilles Deleuze spoke.

“La Ville” for solo piano, can be understood as a sort of postlude to K, a stroll outside of time, a tribute to the historic quarters of Prague haunted by the shade of Kafka, as much a psychological labyrinth as a seemingly abstract construction with a strange power of fascination (world premiere).