Rothko Chapel

The Rothko Chapel is a “spiritual environment, a place for contemplation” (Feldman), located in Houston, commissioned by the collectors John and Dominique de Ménil and created by the painter Mark Rothko.

After years of work, in 1970, the unthinkable happens: the painter commits suicide. After the inauguration, the collectors commission a musical creation from Morton Feldman, a friend of Rothko’s, to resonate with the walls of the Rothko Chapel, but also to symbolize its spiritual elevation. Feldman delivers a very personal score, incorporating quite a few events from his life: a melody written on the day of Stravinsky’s funeral in New York; or the final movement of the alto, a Hebraic song he composed when he was fifteen.

Rothko Chapel

Morton Feldman
Steven Stucky
Steve Reich

Les Métaboles (24 singers)
Léo Warynski, direction

Extraits...

Morton Feldman - Rothko Chapell
Morton Feldman - Rothko Chapell

Dans la presse...

The precision of the leadership of Leo Warynski

Anaclase - Gilles Chalassier
 - Rothko Chapel

The precision of the leadership of Leo Warynski

Anaclase - Gilles Chalassier - Rothko Chapel

The next day, the weekend closes in the refectory of the monks on a program developed around "Rothko Chapel" Morton Feldman. After a Steve Reich appetizer, "Know what is above you", a miniature chiseled by Les Métaboles where the imprint of hypnotic minimalism, "Whispers" (tribute to William Byrd) and "Three new motets in Memoriam Thomas Tallis" Steven Stucky sounds an archaic decantation magnified by the places as by the precision of the direction of Leo Warynski. Increased with the percussion of Hélène Colombotti and celesta entrusted to the fingers of Elisa Humanes, as well as the viola of Maxime Désert, the staff invite to a trip to the confines of the ether in the creation that Feldman had imagined for the pictorial installation left unfinished by Rothko in Houston.

The precision of the leadership of Leo Warynski

Anaclase - Gilles Chalassier
 - Rothko Chapel

The precision of the leadership of Leo Warynski

Anaclase - Gilles Chalassier - Rothko Chapel

The next day, the weekend closes in the refectory of the monks on a program developed around "Rothko Chapel" Morton Feldman. After a Steve Reich appetizer, "Know what is above you", a miniature chiseled by Les Métaboles where the imprint of hypnotic minimalism, "Whispers" (tribute to William Byrd) and "Three new motets in Memoriam Thomas Tallis" Steven Stucky sounds an archaic decantation magnified by the places as by the precision of the direction of Leo Warynski. Increased with the percussion of Hélène Colombotti and celesta entrusted to the fingers of Elisa Humanes, as well as the viola of Maxime Désert, the staff invite to a trip to the confines of the ether in the creation that Feldman had imagined for the pictorial installation left unfinished by Rothko in Houston.

The synergy of the whole, the homogeneity of the singers and the exemplary clarity of the diction

ResMusica - Michèle Tosi
 - Rothko Chapel

The synergy of the whole, the homogeneity of the singers and the exemplary clarity of the diction

ResMusica - Michèle Tosi - Rothko Chapel

The weekend of the contemporary - Royaumont
Steve Reich's "Know what is above you", for women's voices and two small drums, is as short as it is galvanizing. The two works of Steven Stucky (1949-2016) for mixed choir, written in an expressive vein and a rather consonant language, allow to appreciate the synergy of the whole, the homogeneity of the singers and the exemplary clarity of the diction. They precede the masterpiece awaited by Morton Feldman "Rothko Chapel" for which the centerpiece of the stage is the celesta held by Elisa Humanes. It is the violist of the Tana Quartet, Maxime Désert, who is in the garden, facing the percussion set of Hélène Colombotti. The reverberant acoustics of the premises are ideal for melting in the same space each intervention without altering its identity. The fragile balance of this tiny music is maintained with great delicacy by Leo Warynski. In phase with percussion, Maxime Désert's conducting alto is subtly balanced, in dynamics, color and vibrato, until the appearance of the Hebrew song which brings at the end of this strange ritual a new and surprising freshness. If "Rothko Chapel" was given several times in the previous months (including the Manifesto Festival), it is clear that the listening experience, renewed by space and performers, is always different and always rewarding.

The synergy of the whole, the homogeneity of the singers and the exemplary clarity of the diction

ResMusica - Michèle Tosi
 - Rothko Chapel

The synergy of the whole, the homogeneity of the singers and the exemplary clarity of the diction

ResMusica - Michèle Tosi - Rothko Chapel

The weekend of the contemporary - Royaumont
Steve Reich's "Know what is above you", for women's voices and two small drums, is as short as it is galvanizing. The two works of Steven Stucky (1949-2016) for mixed choir, written in an expressive vein and a rather consonant language, allow to appreciate the synergy of the whole, the homogeneity of the singers and the exemplary clarity of the diction. They precede the masterpiece awaited by Morton Feldman "Rothko Chapel" for which the centerpiece of the stage is the celesta held by Elisa Humanes. It is the violist of the Tana Quartet, Maxime Désert, who is in the garden, facing the percussion set of Hélène Colombotti. The reverberant acoustics of the premises are ideal for melting in the same space each intervention without altering its identity. The fragile balance of this tiny music is maintained with great delicacy by Leo Warynski. In phase with percussion, Maxime Désert's conducting alto is subtly balanced, in dynamics, color and vibrato, until the appearance of the Hebrew song which brings at the end of this strange ritual a new and surprising freshness. If "Rothko Chapel" was given several times in the previous months (including the Manifesto Festival), it is clear that the listening experience, renewed by space and performers, is always different and always rewarding.

2017

September

Sunday September 10th 2017 Rothko ChapelFestival Voix nouvelles de Royaumont - Abbaye de Royaumont

The Rothko Chapel is a “spiritual environment, a place for contemplation” (Feldman), located in Houston, commissioned by the collectors John and Dominique de Ménil and created by the painter Mark Rothko.

After years of work, in 1970, the unthinkable happens: the painter commits suicide. After the inauguration, the collectors commission a musical creation from Morton Feldman, a friend of Rothko’s, to resonate with the walls of the Rothko Chapel, but also to symbolize its spiritual elevation. Feldman delivers a very personal score, incorporating quite a few events from his life: a melody written on the day of Stravinsky’s funeral in New York; or the final movement of the alto, a Hebraic song he composed when he was fifteen.