Nicolas Bacri

Last updated
Nicolas Bacri
Bacri2006.jpg
Nicolas Bacri, 2006
Born (1961-11-23) 23 November 1961 (age 62)
Paris, France
Occupationcomposer
Website www.nicolasbacri.net

Nicolas Bacri (born 23 November 1961) is a French composer, currently retired and lives in Pattaya Thailand. He has written works that include seven symphonies, eleven string quartets, eight cantatas, two one-act operas, three piano sonatas, two cello and piano sonatas, four violin and piano sonatas, six piano trios, four violin concertos and numerous other concertante works.

Contents

Career

Nicolas Bacri was born in Paris, France. His musical studies began with piano lessons at the age of seven. He continued to study harmony, counterpoint, analysis and composition as a teenager with Françoise Levechin-Gangloff and Christian Manen. After 1979, he continued his studies with Louis Saguer. In 1979, Bacri entered the Conservatoire de Paris where he studied with Claude Ballif, Marius Constant, Serge Nigg, and Michel Philippot.

After graduating in 1983 with the premier prix in composition, he attended the French Academy in Rome. [1] Back in Paris, he worked for four years (1987–91) as the Director of Chamber Music for Radio France. [2] Bacri organized the very first performance in France of the complete 15 string quartets cycle by Shostakovich (1989–90 season with the Manhattan String Quartet as a symbol of the end of cold war) and featured for the first time in France the major composers of Terezin: Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Hans Krasa and Viktor Ullmann. Since then, he has concentrated on free-lance composing, receiving commissions from major institutions and festivals around the world. Bacri taught orchestration at the Geneva Conservatory (HEM/HES) from 2005 to 2011. He regularly gives masterclasses in composition in France and abroad (in USA: Rochester Eastman School of music... Russia: Ekaterinburg Ural Academy and China: Beijing Conservatory). Bacri has received important commissions in all major musical fields: opera, symphony, concertante, vocal, choral and chamber music. In February 2020 Riccardo Muti conducted the world premiere of his Concertante Elegy for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra op. 150 "Ophelia's Tears," with soloist J. Lawrie Bloom, a piece commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Reviewing this performance, Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "The openly emotional writing for the bass clarinet (...) surely defied musical fashions of our noisy age." In his book The Classical Revolution: Thoughts on New Music in the 21st Century, John Borstlap hailed Bacri as "the most important French composer since Messiaen and Dutilleux...". Bacri has been Professor of Composition at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional (CRR) de Paris (October 2017-October 2023) and at the Schola Cantorum (Paris) (October 2018-October 2023).

In his book Notes étrangères, published in 2004 by Seguier (coll. Carré musique, re-edition by L'Harmattan, 2020), Bacri expresses his ideas as:

“My music is not Neoclassical, it is Classical, for it retains the timeless aspect of Classicism: the rigor of expression. My music is not Neo-romantic, it is Romantic, for it retains the timeless aspect of Romanticism: the density of expression. My music is Modern, for it retains the timeless aspect of Modernism: the broadening of the field of expression. My music is Postmodern, for it retains the timeless aspect of Postmodernism: the mixture of techniques of expression.”

Bacri's Symphony No. 6, Op. 60, was a finalist in the 2003 Masterprize international composing competition. [3] [4] [5]

Bacri made his debut as conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra conducting the world premiere of his opus 130 titled A Day (Four Images for Orchestra) at L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles in Paris on 8 September 2013. The 29 minutes long symphonic suite was written on commission for the son of South Korean businessman Yoo Byung-eun. It has been recorded at the Abbey Road Studios for a planned future release. [6] [7]

Works sorted by opus number

Recordings

Related Research Articles

Sinfonia concertante is an orchestral work, normally in several movements, in which one or more solo instruments contrast with the full orchestra. It emerged as a musical form during the Classical period of Western music from the Baroque concerto grosso. Sinfonia concertante encompasses the symphony and the concerto genres, a concerto in that soloists are on prominent display, and a symphony in that the soloists are nonetheless discernibly a part of the total ensemble and not preeminent. Sinfonia concertante is the ancestor of the double and triple concerti of the Romantic period corresponding approximately to the 19th century.

Arnold Atkinson Cooke was a British composer, a pupil of Paul Hindemith. He wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, including five string quartets and many instrumental sonatas, much of which is only now becoming accessible through modern recordings. Cooke also composed two operas, six symphonies and several concertos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grigory Frid</span> Russian composer

Grigory Samuilovich Frid, also known as Grigori Fried, was a Russian composer of music written in many different genres, including chamber opera.

Marcel Mihalovici was a French composer born in Romania. He was discovered by George Enescu in Bucharest. He moved to Paris in 1919 to study under Vincent d'Indy. His works include his Sonata number 1 for violin and piano (1920), Mélusine opera, his 1st string quartet (1923), 2nd string quartet (1931), Sonata number 2 for violin and piano (1941), Sonata for violin and cello (1944), Phèdre Opera (1949), Étude in two parts for piano and instrumental ensemble (1951) and Esercizio per archi (1960). Many of his piano works were first performed by his wife, the concert pianist Monique Haas.

Osvaldas Jonas Balakauskas is a Lithuanian composer of classical music and diplomat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conrad Beck</span> Swiss composer (1901–1989)

Conrad Arthur Beck was a Swiss composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktor Kalabis</span> Czech composer (1923–2006)

Viktor Kalabis was a Czech composer, music editor, musicologist, and husband of harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková.

Zdeněk Lukáš was a Czech composer. He authored over 330 works.

Jan Zdeněk Bartoš was a Czech composer.

Victor Legley was a Belgian violist and composer of classical music, of French birth. He first studied in Ypres with Lionel Blomme (1897–1984). In 1935 he matriculated at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, and there won awards in the study of viola, fugue, counterpoint and chamber music.

Arthur Eckersley Butterworth, was an English composer, conductor, trumpeter and teacher.

Jean Perrin was a Swiss composer and pianist. He composed in a neo-classical style, sometimes approaching polytonality, and his music shows the influence of Stravinsky and Poulenc.

Ida Rose Esther Gotkovsky is a French composer and pianist. She is currently a professor of music theory at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thierry Escaich</span> French organist and composer (born 1965)

Thierry Joseph-Louis Escaich is a French organist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Bruns</span> German composer (1904–1996)

Victor Bruns was a German composer and bassoonist. He played with the Leningrad Opera, the Volksoper Berlin and the Staatskapelle Berlin. As a composer, he is known for his ballets and for bassoon concertos and sonatas.

Nikolai Lopatnikoff was a Russian-American composer, music teacher and university lecturer. He composed some works of neoclassical music.

Louis-Noël Belaubre was a French classical pianist and composer.

Florent Héau is a French classical clarinetist. In addition to his concert work and recordings, he gives courses, mainly at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris.

References

  1. Pernon, Gérard (ed.), "Bacri, Nicolas", Dictionnaire de la musique 5th edition, Editions Jean-Paul Gisserot, 2007, p.16. ISBN   2-87747-918-8
  2. France Musique, Nicolas Bacri, Compositeur français
  3. Andrew Clements (1 November 2003). "Masterprize final". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  4. Ivan Hewett (3 November 2003). "As hopeless as the others". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  5. Anna Picard (9 November 2003). "Short-changed: an evening of brows worn at the waist". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  6. Alberge, Dalya (23 June 2013). "Rich Korean recluse hires the LSO to blow his trumpet". The Sunday Times . Archived from the original on June 2, 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  7. Bacri, Nicolas. "Biographie En". Nicolasbacri.net. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  8. OCLC   724985765.
  9. "Nicolas Bacri: Sturm und Drang". BIS Records. Retrieved 12 January 2010.