Studio 4 at Flagey completely packed, an audience younger than your typical "classical" concert crowd, and the full Brussels Philharmonic plus some extras because we're talking about Luc Brewaeys' music, so: "Fasten seat belts!"
That's how you should remember Luc Brewaeys (1959-2015), the man who lived life to the fullest. Studio 4 was buzzing with energy, not just for his music but also for the world premiere of Daan Janssens' violin concerto on the program.
Brewaeys' 6th symphony, stretched out in one continuous movement, starts dark and low, with those deep bass drums and other percussion, until gradually the strings build to a crescendo. And Brewaeys wanted those strings to sound rounder, so the violins at the back, the violas at the front of the stage. These are extraordinary waves of sound that wash over you from all directions. It gave me the same feeling I got watching that Stephan Vanfleteren film, The Tide Will Bring You Home about the photographer's thrilling battle with the surging ebb and flow of the sea. Is that Brewaeys' spectral music? Music that splatters from all sides, bursting from every instrument with every imaginable color, shade and overtone hurled into the room relentlessly and massively orchestrated, sometimes lyrical and then midway meeting the electronics before suddenly falling silent again? What an experience, what an abundance!
The orchestration of the Debussy preludes was once my wake-up call to Brewaeys' music. Lighter in tone but always carrying those hints of Debussy underneath. But again we're plunged by all these instruments into that sonic bath of the "The Sunken Cathedral". You hear that cathedral sinking, sinking further through the ground with every percussion roll and finally disappearing underwater with a last gurgle. Blurp. And his other Debussy orchestrations follow the same pattern. His second symphony is a different beast altogether, even more percussion and all instruments deployed to lift you to higher realms. "Komm! Hebe dich… " is the title of this work. It only lasts a quarter hour, but what creative force radiates from it.
The Brussels Philharmonic still has to deliver the world premiere of Daan Janssens' violin concerto. He's already written a famous cello concerto and electronics dedicated to Arne Deforce. This time a concerto commissioned by Brussels Philharmonic for violin and electronics. Violinist Samuel Nemtanu starts soft and quietly, three notes on different strings, but soon he has to take on a full orchestra playing furiously until everything falls into place within the electronic framework. The soloist effortlessly claims his space. He does this, playing both legato and staccato, with "contemporary" virtuosity. A virtuosity that would probably not appeal to our Elizabeth competition judges. And from start to finish, that shimmering electronics from the Centre Henri Pousseur weaves through the sonic landscape. With one more masterful eruption of violin and orchestra, this breathtaking concerto comes to an end. The concerto was the discovery of the evening, worthy of Brewaeys.
