HECTOR BERLIOZ
King Lear, overture, Op. 4
CARL MARIA von WEBER
Bassoon Concerto in F major, Op. 75
ALBERT ROUSSEL
Le Festin de l’araignée (The Spider’s Feast), concert performance of the ballet-pantomime, Op. 17
Guilhaume Santana bassoon
Filharmonie Brno
conductor Leoš Svárovský
The French composer Albert Roussel (1869–1937), whose pupils included Bohuslav Martinů, completed his ballet-pantomime Le Festin de l’araignée in 1912. Scenes from the life of creepy-crawlies with the bloodthirsty spider in the title role are allegories of human rapaciousness and aggression. The garden during a warm summer afternoon is lively indeed: ants, worms, dung beetles, a butterfly, a spider and a mayfly dance, or wrestle with each other. This hustle and bustle is expressed by incredibly inventive music full of electrifying colour, rich harmonies and rhythms and witty melodic ideas. Le Festin de l’araignée was premiered in Paris on 3 April 1913; in Brno it was first performed in March 1933 at the Theatre on the Ramparts. A suite, in five movements, has helped to make the ballet popular.
