Pascal Gallois – International Contemporary Ensemble – Katalin Károlyi

What a great musical evening last night at the House of Poetry (a well suited name!) And what a pity that it was not recorded.
Mezzo soprano Katalin Károlyi held the challenge of singing both Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg and Le Marteau sans maître by Boulez, while in addition she hardly recovered from a nasopharyngitis … She kept her part with notch, giving a great Pierrot, with a mix of talk / sing very successful (a personal way of speaking on the good note pitches).
Pascal Gallois shows a usual a remarkable conductor throughout the program (with Talea by Gérard Grisey), knowing how to conduct with the required precision or fluidity depending on the parts played.
Most notable was undoubtedly the “International Contemporary Ensemble” of New York: young instrumentalists who breathed the joy of making music together. A special mention for the flutist, who both in Schoenberg and Boulez was the heroine of the evening (for example her “duet” with the singer in Columbine was such poetry itself).

Alice Teyssier

In  short, we must watch for the next concerts of the conductor, the ensemble and the mezzo!