A much-toured classic on the European circuit, L’Immédiat is a unique project that fuses physical theatre, performance and circus. Often compared to Buster Keaton, Camille Boitel is joined by six performers to surprise audiences with a riotous reflection of modern times that is catapulted into reality by breathtaking physical skills, surrealist imagery, apocalyptic optimism and chaotic, collapsing set.

About “L’Immédiat”

In the award-winning L’Immédiat by contemporary circus performer and stage virtuoso Camille Boitel, nothing is what it seems. A stage packed full of clutter; furniture, cardboard boxes, and ladders serves as a playground for performers to charge through, under and over, causing pieces of the junkyard-set to cave in around them. Chaos builds. A woman comes home and everything falls over. She hangs up her coat and the rack collapses, puts her bag on a table but its legs have been sawn through. Disaster continues to spread at a frenetic speed as the 7 young artists use their formidable physical abilities and comedy timing to defy the ruthless tsunami of destabilizing forces.

About Camille Boitel

Camille Boitel trained at Annie Fratellini’s circus school in Paris, and in 2002 was a winner at the first “Jeunes Talents Cirque”, Europe’s most prestigious new circus awards. He was an original member of James Thiérrée’s Junebug Symphony Company and made his debut at the London International Mime Festival with the remarkable solo, “L’Homme d’Hus” in 2005. L’Immédiat was awarded the “Prix Mimos” in 2010.

“Music is liquid architecture Architecture is frozen music”. These words from Goethe distil the essence of this concert. This presentation is an exciting first collaboration between the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, French percussion soloist Jean Geoffroy and Indian trumpeter-composer Rajesh Mehta. It is also a partnership between Grame Centre National de Création Musicale (Lyon, France) and Le French May. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is as a model for mathematical perfection in musical counterpoint and formal structure. One can see parallels in the architectural construction. Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), one of the most important post-war classical composers, was trained as an architect. Xenakis’ music is elemental and ritualistic, anti-Romantic and dispassionate, with a deeply architectural foundation. Indian-born Rajesh Mehta (1964-) was trained in acoustical engineering, trumpet performance and composition. He is particularly known for his work in interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly between architecture, the visual arts and music. Thierry De Mey (1956-) is a Belgian composer and filmmaker particularly known for his work in contemporary dance. His percussion quintet April Suite is a centrepiece of this concert, using musical movement as a choreographic gesture on its own, and creating new perceptions in the relationship between space, movement and music.

Marie-Laure Muller graduated from the Strasbourg Conservatory of Music (France), Geneva Conservatory of Music (Switzerland), Manhattan School of Music (New York), Indiana University of Bloomington and École Normale Supérieure (Paris). She has performed in various countries in Europe, and North and South America. René Benedetti studied at the Paris Conservatory of Music and has played in Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Colonne, and the Paris Opera Orchestra for 20 years as the principal cello soloist. He has toured with renowned conductors such as Karl Boëhm, George Solti, and Lorin Maazel. Matthew Wu graduated from the Guangzhou Xinghai Conservatory of Music, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He has also appeared as a soloist with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

Currently among the most prestigious ensembles performing baroque repertoire worldwide, Le Concert d’Astrée pays tribute to Rameau – one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque period – on the 250th anniversary of his death. Lead by star conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, 27 musicians accompany Anders J. Dahlin (tenor) and Katherine Watson (soprano) to perform excerpts from Rameau’s major operas: Castor & Pollux, Dardanus, Hippolyte & Aricie and Naïs.

From Schubert to Ravel, through Mozart and Chopin, France’s most popular pianist Alexandre Tharaud makes his solo debut in Hong Kong performing a varied recital in a programme that explores different facets of pianistic greatness and keyboard virtuosity.

At just 19 years old, Raphaël Sévère already ranks as one of the most brilliant representatives of the French school of clarinet. When he was 12 he had already won prizes at five international competitions, and three years later became the youngest artist to ever be nominated “Révélation Soliste Instrumental de l’Année” at Les Victoires de la Musique Classique. Last year he won the First Prize and eight special prizes at the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, as well as receiving his master’s degree from Paris’ Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique with high honours. Don’t miss his début with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta playing Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto, a gem in the repertoire. The concert will open with Berlioz’ Le Corsaire, which was composed by Berlioz while holidaying in Nice, and depicts the wind, sea and imaginary life of a pirate. The programme also features Franck’s famous work, Symphony in D minor, which premiered at the Paris Conservatoire in 1889.

Ravel described daphnis et Chloe as a “choreographic symphony”. Full of startling and lush effects, it is his longest and most luxuriant work, telling an ancient Greek story with large orchestra and chorus. Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto evoked another Greek character to its early listeners: they heard Orpheus, taming wild beasts, in the second movement.

Two sides of the French spirit meet: Olivier Messiaen wrote gorgeous musical meditations on the nature of spiritual love. His Les offrandes oubliées (‘Forgotten Offerings’) are a tender statement of deeply-held beliefs. Meanwhile, Joseph Canteloube’s ravishing songs from the Auvergne region capture the rustic lives of farmers and shepherds in the fields. Then we explore the indomitable northern spirit of Finland, with Sibelius’ second symphony, an emblem of his homeland’s pristine landscape.

Be Part of the Celebrations!The 40th Anniversary Gala performances feature Music Director Jaap van Zweden’s searing intensity and Berlioz’ defining masterpiece – an unforgettable statement of the HK Phil’s journey so far, and of great things to come. To mark the occasion, we also have Russian star pianist Boris Berezovsky to bring his trademark flair to Rachmaninov, and Hong Kong’s own Fung Lam whose latest work, Quintessence, receives its world première. * Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Composer in Residence Programme, and the Commissioning of New Works, are generously sponsored by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. Please note that the concert on June 14 (Saturday) begins at 7PM.