Händel - Tailleferre Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Berliner Philharmoniker & Juanjo Mena

• George Friedrich Händel (1685 - 1759): Concerto for Harp, Strings and Basso continuo in B-Flat Major, HWV 294:
• 1 Händel: Concerto for Harp, Strings and Basso continuo in B-Flat Major, HWV 294: I. Andante allegro 05:48
• 2 Händel: Concerto for Harp, Strings and Basso continuo in B-Flat Major, HWV 294: II. Larghetto 04:15
• Germaine Tailleferre (1892 - 1983): Concertino for Harp and Orchestra:
• 3 Händel: Concerto for Harp, Strings and Basso continuo in B-Flat Major, HWV 294: III. Allegro moderato 02:29
• 4 Tailleferre: Concertino for Harp and Orchestra: I. Allegretto 07:20
• 5 Tailleferre: Concertino for Harp and Orchestra: II. Lento 03:15
• 6 Tailleferre: Concertino for Harp and Orchestra: III. Rondo 04:52
• Total Runtime 27:59

Info for Händel - Tailleferre

This programme is characterised by musical sophistication and French spirit – such as Maurice Ravel’s depiction of the lovers of antiquity, Daphnis et Chloé. With a sometimes delicate, sometimes archaic and austere tonal language, he portrays their timid falling in love, forced separation, and happy reunion. Harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet is the soloist in Germaine Tailleferre’s impressionistic and virtuosic Concertino. Conductor Juanjo Mena opens the evening with the Ramuntcho Overture by Gabriel Pierné.

Without her father’s permission, the young Germaine Tailleferre secretly took piano and solfège lessons at the Conservatoire de Paris, where her talent was recognised and encouraged. She became the only female member of the notorious Groupe des Six, which formed around 1920 in the artists’ quarter of Montmartre in Paris. Tailleferre wrote her Concertino for Harp and Orchestra a few years later in Manhattan, where she lived during a short-lived marriage. The Classically styled piece is modelled on Mozart’s concertos; but at the same time, she wrote “music of such freshness – one could say that it smells good” (Darius Milhaud). Marie-Pierre Langlamet – a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 1993 – is the soloist in one of the most popular harp concertos of the 20th century.

When Juanjo Mena made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2016, the conductor, known for his razor-sharp interpretations, also performed a work for harp and orchestra with Marie-Pierre Langlamet – in a programme that highlighted the mutual influences between Spain and France. The overture which opens his second programme also addresses this connection: the French composer Gabriel Pierné set Pierre Loti’s novel of the same name to music in the stage work Ramuntcho, which is considered a love letter to the Basque country.

Maurice Ravel wanted to create a “great musical fresco painting” with Daphnis et Chloé, “less concerned with antiquity than with faithfulness to the Greece of my dreams”. The premiere of the ballet in 1912, which the composer experienced as an “endless ordeal”, was overshadowed by a performance of Debussy’s infamously scandalous Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, which took place on the same evening. However, Ravel’s colourful pastoral piece was to be fully redeemed, initially in the form of two suites. And Igor Stravinsky declared that Daphnis et Chloé was for him one of the “most beautiful creations of all French music”.

Berliner Philharmoniker
Juanjo Mena, conductor
Marie-Pierre Langlamet, harp
Rundfunkchor Berlin

Juanjo Mena
began his conducting career in his native Spain as Artistic Director of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra in 1999. His uncommon talent was soon recognized internationally with appointments as Principal Guest Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic and Chief Guest Conductor of the Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. In 2011 he was named Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, which he led for seven seasons, taking the orchestra on tours of Europe and Asia and conducting annual televised concerts at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. His BBC tenure featured, notably, “thrilling” (The Guardian) performances of Bruckner Symphonies, a cycle of Schubert Symphonies and set new standards for the interpretation of Spanish and South American repertoire. He held the position of Principal Conductor of the Cincinnati May Festival, the longest running choral festival in North America, served by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, until 2023. His tenure reinvigorated the Festival’s repertoire with previously unheard music and new commissions (Julia Adolphe, James MacMillan, Missy Mazzoli, Ellen Reid, James Lee III), and expanded its audience both in numbers and in demographic reach.

A sought-after guest conductor, Juanjo Mena has led Europe’s top ensembles including the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, London Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Dresden Philharmonic among others. He also appears regularly with all the major orchestras in his native Spain. Following his North American debut with the Baltimore Symphony in 2004, he has conducted most of the continent’s leading orchestras. They include the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Montreal Symphony and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. In Asia, he is a regular guest conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo.

During the 23/24 season, Juanjo Mena returns to North America to lead the Teatro Real Orchestra (the Royal Opera of Madrid) at Lincoln Center, after their triumphant debut at Carnegie Hall in 2022. Other guest performances in North America this season include returns to the New York Philharmonic with Hilary Hahn as soloist, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Montreal Symphony. In Europe, he returns to the Spanish National Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and the BBC Philharmonic, while his most recent debuts have included the Dallas Symphony and the Czech Philharmonic.

In the world of opera, Juanjo Mena conducted a new production of Arthur Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake with Marion Cotillard in the leading role, paired with Debussy’s La damoiselle élue staged by Madrid’s Teatro Real in 2022. His operatic work includes Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, Richard Strauss’ Salome, Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos, Bartok’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and Schoenberg’s Erwartung as well as productions of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in Genoa, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in Lausanne, and Beethoven’s Fidelio and Britten’s Billy Budd in Bilbao.

His latest release of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 with the BBC Philharmonic on Chandos has been described by The Classical Review as “intensely musical,” “impressive” and with a “spectacular sound”. Mena’s rich discography with the BBC Philharmonic on Chandos also includes an acclaimed Gabriel Pierné release selected as a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Weber Symphonies, Ginastera’s orchestral works to mark the composer’s centenary, and new reference recordings of lesser performed Spanish repertoire including Arriaga’s orchestral pieces, works by Albéniz, Montsalvatge and Turina, as well as three discs of works by Manuel de Falla featuring his opera La Vida Breve. In 2012 Juanjo Mena recorded Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony with the Bergen Philharmonic for the Hyperion label, a disc said to “utterly redefine the terms under which past/current/future Turangalîlas need to be judged” (Gramophone).

Juanjo Mena studied conducting with Sergiu Celibidache following his musical education at the Madrid Royal Conservatory where he was mentored by Carmelo Bernaola and Enrique García Asensio. In 2016, he was awarded the Spanish National Music Award. He lives with his family in his native Basque Country.

Marie-Pierre Langlamet
Even more “impressive” than her powerful playing are “the quiet passages when Marie-Pierre Langlamet elicits a song from her 47 strings that is so atmospheric, and has such subtle dynamic shadings that you would never expect from this plucked string instrument”, according to Der Tagesspiegel. Since 1993, the musician has played as principal harp in the ranks of the Berliner Philharmoniker, frequently taking her place in front of the orchestra as a soloist.

Marie-Pierre Langlamet was born in Grenoble in 1967, studied at the conservatory in Nice and participated in master classes held by Jacqueline Borot and Lily Laskine. After early competition successes, including at the “Louise Charpentier” competition in Paris – she won 1st prize – Marie-Pierre Langlamet took up her first position as principal harp with the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Nice at the age of 17. After further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she became assistant principal harp with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York in 1988.

In 1992 Marie-Pierre Langlamet won 1st prize at the International Harp Competition in Israel, one of the most important competitions in her field worldwide. One year later, she became a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker. She also performs internationally as a soloist with renowned chamber music ensembles and orchestras and gives numerous solo recitals. The musician, who has been awarded the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, teaches at the Karajan Academy and at Berlin University of the Arts.

Booklet for Händel - Tailleferre