Concertini programme 2024-25

La Monnaie’s chamber music season gives the musicians of our Symphony Orchestra – one of the artistic pillars of our house – the opportunity to enrich their repertoire. In a hushed setting and with intimate instrumental ensembles, they will perform familiar works of music, but also have some wonderful surprises in store for you.

As usual, we will draw a connection with the works in our opera and symphony programmes. In line with our Ring cycle, we will continue the collaboration we began last season with musicologist Stijn Paredis from KU Leuven. Four concertini this season will be devoted to the fin-de-siècle aesthetics and the artistic circles of Les XX and La Libre Esthétique, which gravitated around La Monnaie at the time. Claude Debussy, Vincent d’Indy, Emmanuel Chabrier, François Rasse and Joaquín Turina will all be featured.

The voice will also be very much in evidence. We are delighted to welcome the artists from the La Monnaie Choruses (conducted by Emmanuel Trenque) for two original programmes, one with the women’s chorus and the other with a mixed ensemble. The young singers of the MM Academy will surprise us on several occasions, among others during the traditional Wild Cards and the concert presenting the new Soloists and Laureates. Baritone Werner Van Mechelen and pianist Florestan Bataillie will give a recital in which lieder of Hugo Wolf, Franz Schubert and Gustav Mahler resonate with songs of Ralph Vaughan Williams. After many years as répétiteur, pianist Inge Spinette will be bidding farewell to La Monnaie. On this occasion, she will be reunited with her faithful singing friends for what promises to be a particularly festive concert.

We will also put the spotlight on the centennial of Gabriel Fauré’s passing and celebrate the 125th birthday of Francis Poulenc, by dedicating some of our concerts to their works. Following on from the operatic performances of our diptych on Claudio Monteverdi, it is with great pleasure that we welcome the musicians of the Cappella Mediterranea ensemble to delve deeper into the baroque chamber music repertoire. Lastly, contemporary music will not be forgotten. We reunite with composers Kris Defoort and Harold Noben – all on the bill of the opera season – in programmes dedicated to our different ensembles.

8.11.2024	REICHA ANTON REICHA (1770-1836) Trios for two French Horns and Bassoon, op.93 (c.1815) Wind Quintet in E flat major, op.88 n°2 (1818) La Monnaie wind quintet	Abbreviations vl : Violin vla : Viola vc : Cello cb : Double bass fl : Flute hb : Oboe cl : Clarinet fg : Bassoon cr : Horn tp : Trumpet trb : Trombone trb b : Bass trombone tb : Tuba perc : Percussion pf : Piano hp : Harp
22.11.2024	CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CHRISTIAN LINDBERG (°1958) Under the Pillow ANTHONY PLOG (°1947) Postcards I & II (1994) DEREK BOURGEOIS (1941-2017) Trombone Quartet (excerpts) (1989) ANTHONY PLOG Poscards III, IV & V ERIC EWAZEN (°1954) Myths & Legends – Trombone Quartet (2001) MICHAEL NYMAN (°1944) Here to There (1993) Low Brass of la Monnaie
29.11.2024 Salle Fiocco	CHORALE DES XX VINCENT D’INDY (1851-1931) Sur la mer, op.32 (1888) GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924) Le ruisseau, op.22 (1881) & L’hiver s’enfuit, op.52/2 (1888) EMMANUEL CHABRIER (1841-1894) À la musique (1890–91) PAULINE VIARDOT (1821-1910) Rêverie (1884) ERNEST CHAUSSON (1855-1899) Hélène, op.7 (1883) & Chant nuptial, op.15 (1884-87) CHARLES MARIE WIDOR (1844-1937) J’étais seul près des flots, op.30 (1876) JULES MASSENET (1842-1912) Prélude & Chanson de mai extr. from Les poèmes des fleurs (1907) « Roi, tu peux t’assoupir » extr. from Hérodiade (1882) Emmanuel Trenque (conductor) Manon Poskin, Alessia Thaïs Berardi (soprano solo) Hélène Faux (mezzosoprano solo) La Monnaie Women's Choir Alberto Moro (pf)
6.12.2024	WILD CARD MM ACADEMY CABARET SONGS WILLIAM BOLCOM (°1938) Amor extr. de Cabaret Songs (1996) FRANK NUYTS (°1957) Convertible superstar extr. de Carbon Fixation Ensemble (2015) BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976) Cabaret Songs (1937–39) GEORGE GERSHWIN (1898-1937) The man I love extr. de Songbook (1919–31) By Strauss extr. from An American in Paris (1928) KURT WEILL (1900-1950) Youkali extr. de Marie Galante (1934) Foolish Hert, Speak Low & I’m a Stranger Here Myself extr. from One Touch of Venus (1943) Marie-Juliette Ghazarian (mezzosoprano, MM Laureate) & Marie Datcharry (pf)
13.12.2024	SPOTLIGHTS ON THE ORCHESTRA'S SECOND VIOLINS
20.12.2024	SCHUBERT FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Oktett in F-Dur, D.803 (1824) Saténik Khourdoïan (vl), Noémi Tiercet (vl), Florent Brémond (vla), Sébastien Walnier (vc), Marc Terré Garcia (cb), Orane Bargain (cr), Alberto Blanco Garcia (cl), Alain Cremers (fg)
17.1.2025 Salle Fiocco	TRIBUTE TO PHILIP JONES Brass of la Monnaie
24.1.2025	LISZT / WAGNER / CHOPIN FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886) La lugubre gondola, s.135, (1885) RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883) Ein Albumblatt, WWV94 FRÉDERIC CHOPIN (1810-1849) Piano Trio in G minor, op.8 (1828-29) Femke Sonnen (vl), NN (vc), Yasuko Takahashi (pf)
31.1.2025 Salle Fiocco	“LEBENSWANDEL” RECITAL WERNER VAN MECHELEN & FLORESTAN BATAILLIE HUGO WOLF (1860-1903) Fußreise (1888) JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) Wir wandelten (1884) FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Im Frühling, D.882 (1826) GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911) Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1883-85) RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Songs of Travel (1905-12) Werner Van Mechelen (basso baritono), Florestan Bataillie (pf)
7.2.2025	MOZART / HUMMEL WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Quartett F-Dur für Oboe, Violine, Viola und Cello, KV.370 (1781) JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL (1778-1837) Septet in D-Moll n°1 für Pianoforte, Flöte, Oboe, Horn, Viola, Cello, Kontrabass, op.74 (c.1816) Yaeram Park (fl), Luk Nielandt (hb) Orane Bargain (cr), Sylvia Huang (vl), NN (vla), Sébastien Walnier (vc), Marc Terré Garcia (cb), Jan Michiels (pf)
14.2.2025	RIPPER / SCHUMANN JOÃO GUILHERME RIPPER (°1959) Duo Sonatina (2006) ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Drei Romanzen, op. 94 (1849) Sechs Studien in kanonischer Form, op.56 (1845) Luk Nielandt (hb), Justus Grimm (vc), Abdel Rahman El Bacha (pf)
21.2.2025	PETIT PARIS PAUL GILSON (1865-1942) Humoresque n°1 VINCENT D’INDY (1851-1931) Chanson et danses, op.50 (1898) Sarabande et Menuet pour quintette de vents et piano, op.72 (1918) ALBERT ROUSSEL (1869-1937) Divertissement, op.6 (1906) La Monnaie chamber music ensemble & Yasuko Takahashi (pf)
28.2.2025	NOBEN / KORNGOLD HAROLD NOBEN (°1978) Quartet from the Portuguese (2022) ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD (1897-1957) String Quartet n°2, op.26 (1933) Saténik Khourdoïan (vl), Noémi Tiercet (vl), Florent Brémond (vla), Sébastien Walnier (vc)
7.3.2025	ZEMLINSKY / MARTINU ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY (1871-1942) Humoreske (1939) BOHUSLAV MARTINU Les madrigaux, H.266 (1937) Quartet for Clarinet, Horn, Cello and Snare Drum, H.139 (1924) Yaeram Park (fl), Luk Nielandt (hb), Alberto Blanco Garcia (cl), Orane Bargain (cr), Alain Cremers (fg), NN (vc), NN (percussion)
14.3.2025 Salle Fiocco	BRITTEN / SHOSTAKOVITCH BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1973) Simple Symphony, op.4 (1933-34) DMITRI SHOSTAKOVITCH (1906-1975) Chamber Symphony, op.110a (1967) La Monnaie string ensemble
21.3.2025 Salle Malibran	MUSIQUE DE LA RENAISSANCE ET DE L’ÉPOQUE BAROQUE La Monnaie brass
28.3.2025	SOUS LES ÉTOILES HAROLD NOBEN (°1978) Sextuor à cordes « Sous les étoiles de Gaïa » - Thème et improvisations (2023)
4.4.2025 Salle Fiocco	MISATANGO MARTÍN PALMERI (°1965) Misa a Buenos Aires (Misatango) (1956) Emmanuel Trenque (conductor) Annelies Kerstens (soprano), Hélène Faux (mezzosoprano) La Monnaie Chorus La Monnaie chamber music ensemble & ZinneTango
11.4.2025	BAROQUE PROGRAMME Femke Sonnen (vl), e.a.
18.4.2025 Salle Fiocco	LE DONNE DI CAVALLI BARBARA STROZZI (1619-1677) L’amante segreto, op.2 Che si può fare Sino alla morte Lagrime mie ANTONIA BEMBO (c.1640-c.1720) Produzioni armoniche consacrate a Luigi XIV - M’ingannasti in verità & Volgete altrove il guardo FRANCESCO CAVALLI (1602-1676) E vuol dunque Ciprigna extr. from Ercole Amante (1662) Leonardo García Alarcón (harpsichord, organ & direction), Mariana Flores (soprano), Rodrigo Calveyra (recorder & cornetto), Marie Bournisien (hp), Margaux Blanchard (viola da gamba), Monica Pustilnik (archlute & guitar), Quito Gato (theorbo, guitar & drum)
25.4.2025	ORGAN CONCERT Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Benoît Mernier, e.a. Benjamin Prunet (organ), NN (vl), Noémi Tiercet (vl), NN (vla), NN (vc), Marc Terré Garcia (cb)
9.5.2025 Salle Fiocco	CARTE BLANCHE to INGE SPINETTE Vocal programme
16.5.2025	NEW BELGIAN MUSIC FOR BRASS QUINTET La Monnaie brass quintet
23.5.2025 Salle Fiocco	WILD CARD MM ACADEMY FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963) Rapsodie nègre (1917) Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d’Orphée (1919) Trio pour piano, hautbois et basson, op.43 (1926) Le Bal masqué (1932) Lucas Cortoos (baritono, MM Laureate), La Monnaie chamber music ensemble & Vincent Van Audenhove (pf)
6.6.2025	RASSE & TURINA FRANÇOIS RASSE (1873-1955) Trio en si mineur pour piano, violon et violoncelle, op.16 (1897) JOAQUÍN TURINA (1882-1949) Piano Quintet, op.1 (1908) Saténik Khourdoïan (vl), Noémi Tiercet (vl), Florent Brémond (vla), Sébastien Walnier (vc), NN (pf)
13.6.2025 Salle Fiocco	AROUND CARMEN La Monnaie bass
20.6.2025	100% FAURÉ GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924) Barcarolle n°1, op.26 (1881) Trois romances sans paroles, op.17 (1863) Élégie, op.24 (1880) Quatuor avec piano n°1, op.15 (1876-1879 / 1883) Sylvia Huang (vl), Florent Brémond (vla), Sébastien Walnier (vc), Julien Gernay (pf)