On May 29 in Brussels, La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, performs the world premiere of Bernard Foccroulle’s Climbing-Dancing, Concert for Cello and Orchestra 'for Trisha'.



Composed for cellist Sébastien Walnier, Climbing-Dancing is dedicated to avant-garde dancer and choreographer Trisha Brown, who left us in 2017. As director of La Monnaie Theater, Bernard Foccroulle worked with Trisha Brown on numerous occasions. Foccroulle has fond memories of Brown’s choreography for J.S. Bach’s The Musical Offering, as well various operas, including Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Franz Schubert’s Winterreise and Salvatore Sciarrino’s Luci mie traditrici.  



This concert - the composer explains - comprises two parts, seamlessly connected. It starts out with a low-pitched solo cello piece, a kind of tombeau. The orchestra makes a gradual entrance as it wraps around and amplifies the sound of the cello, acting as a sounding board. The soloist then leads the orchestra on a gradual exploration of higher-pitched sounds in an atmosphere that is markedly elegiacal. 
The second part ushers in the dance phase, led by the orchestra, which coaxes the cello into an atmosphere dominated by quickness, light-hearted luminosity and transparency. 
[…]
May this piece help keep the memory of a great artist and her work alive – a living memory we need to cling to now more than ever.  


Climbing-Dancing was commissioned by La Monnaie Theater in Brussels.

Photo: Trisha Brown (© Marc Ginot); Alain Altinoglu (© Marco Borggreve); Sébastien Walnier (© André Henrot)