Louis Andriessen - Haags Hakkûh - The Hague Hacking - Part 2/2

Katia and Marielle Labèque, pianos
Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor
ASKO|Schönberg
June 6, 2009

This is the Dutch premiere of the following work. This piece is loosely based on a Dutch song called "O, O, Den Haag" and the first theme from Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Actually, more specifically, it comes from the Tom and Jerry episode entitled "The Cat Concerto". He intended to turn the 2 pianos into a sort of "super-piano". He says that his favorite concerto for 2 pianos is the one by Poulenc, although I'm not sure the influence is apparent. All of the usual Andriessen compositional techniques are present, such as hocketing between the two pianos (note the camera angles), strings senza vibrato, coloristic percussion, etc. More info here:

http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Louis-Andriessen-The-Hague-Hacking/51754

I was lucky enough to be at the premiere of this great work, and this performance is even better.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• louis
• andriessen
• piano
• duo
• hague
• hacking
• haags
• hakkûh
• hocket
• tom
• jerry
• cat
• concerto
• asko
• schoenberg
• ensemble
• reinbert
• leeuw
• poulenc
• liszt
• hungarian
• rhapsody
• cimbalom
• katia
• marielle
• labeque

[mothershipjellyfish]

Very interesting piece! I spotted a Fender bass in there, very cool!

[jre58591]

Yup! And there's also an electric guitar in there, too. They're common staples in Andriessen's ensembles.

[edrw500]

Is there a CD release yet?

[jre58591]

Nope. However, there have been a few performances of it, and the BBC used to have a recording of the Salonen Proms performance on their site. Unfortunately, it's gone now.

[kyto7288]

i mean.... it's bad

[jre58591]

You can't just say that something is bad. You need to have a reason, or else your opinion isn't worth very much.

I personally think this piece is good (check the info for my reasons).

[ifaderl]

Congratulations, I like this piece. I find that the influence of Poulenc can be heard quite clearly at some points. Especially in this second part. I have to admit, that I like Poulenc´s concerto for two pianos, too. :-)

[HAMayoral]

This just gets better and better! This would be the best incidental music in the world! Have they made any performance for this piece???

[MichaelAhrens]

jre5891: Why do YOU need a reason for someone else's opinion? So what if they think it's bad. Unless you feel your conviction is in jeopardy, reasons for other peoples views are irrelevant. If for some reason you feel inferior to someone who has an opposing opinion you might want to deal with that first before you waste time on youtube. Oh, by the way, I love the piece.

[jre58591]

Explain what you mean...