MARK ROTHKO BY MAX RICHTER WORLD-PREMIERE MUSICAL CREATION
© 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko - Adagp, Paris, 2023 © 2005 Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko;© Henry Elkan © William Waterworth
As part of the “Mark Rothko” exhibition, German-British composer and pianist Max Richter calls the Fondation home for an exceptional residency. This unique programme of concerts and musical promenades is divided into three phases over the course of the exhibition: in November 2023, January 2024 and March 2024.
For this residency, the Fondation asked Mr Richter to compose a singular piece, a worldwide premiere intimately tied to the world of American painter Mark Rothko. An essential figure in neoclassical music, Mr Richter is considered one of the main influences for post-minimalist composers.
“The point where my work and Mark Rothko’s work meet is this concept of place, which he believes he invents when he creates a series of paintings. A musical work is an imaginary landscape; it is a space that one can inhabit.(…).”
Max Richter will fully take over the Fondation’s many spaces. In the galleries of the exhibition, a musical itinerary from the composer presents an original dimension of his creation. Recorded and then broadcast as a soundtrack in all the spaces, his work Unity Fields II will also be played live by some twenty musicians in several galleries.
In the Auditorium, three pieces by Max Richter, including his work Unity Fields I, the world-premiere creation for orchestra, piano and electronics, can be heard in three original concerts.
“In my mind, this project exists in two parts. The first is something that’s more like a sound installation or a sound response to the Rothkos. You have live instrumentalists distributed throughout the building and they make the music. And then there’s a kind of locked version of the music, which is something that can be performed, or something that can be recorded. In one part there’s a kind of a fluidity in the structure, which is almost like a promenade, like a landscape, a place. And then there’s the one at the other extreme, which is a performed work."
"I almost have synesthesia when I look at the Mark Rothko’s paintings, who rightly said ‘Silence is so accurate’. “
Exhibition galleries
Musical promenades
Musicians from Le Balcon orchestra.
From 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. without interruption on:
- 23 and 25 November 2023
- 25 and 26 January 2024
- 21 and 22 March 2024
Auditorium
Max Richter Concert in the Auditorium
Le Balcon Orchestra
Max Richter, piano
Grace Davidson, soprano
Matthew Lynch, conductor
At 8:30 p.m. on:
- 24 November 2023
- 24 January 2024
- 20 March 2024
For more information and to book, click here.
The artist
Max Richter
Max Richter stands as one of the most prodigious figures on the contemporary music scene, with ground-breaking work as a composer, pianist, producer, and collaborator. From synthesizers and computers to a full symphony orchestra, Richter’s innovative work encompasses solo albums, ballets, concert hall performances, film and television series, video art installations and theater works. He is classically trained, studying at Edinburgh University, the Royal Academy of Music, London, and completing his studies with composer Luciano Berio in Florence. “Memoryhouse”, Richter’s 2002 debut, has been described by The Independent, and Pitchfork Magazine as a “landmark”, while his 2004 album “The Blue Notebooks'' was chosen by The Guardian as one of the best Classical works of the century. “SLEEP”, his eight- and-a-half-hour concert work, has been broadcast and performed worldwide, including at the Sydney Opera House, Berlin’s Kraftwerk, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie de Paris, and at the Barbican, London. In 2012 Richter ‘Recomposed’ the infamous Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, winning him the prestigious ECHO Classic Award, and an established place in the classical charts. In recent years Richter’s music has become a mainstay for many of the world’s leading ballet companies, including The Mariinski Ballet, La Scala Milan, The Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Semper Oper, and NDT, while his collaborations with Wayne McGregor for The Royal Ballet have been widely acclaimed. His most recent collaboration was with Margaret Atwood and Wayne McGregor, based on Atwood’s Maddaddam trilogy of novels, premiering in Toronto in September 2022
Richter has written prolifically for film and television, with recent projects including Hostiles, Black Mirror, Taboo – which earned him an Emmy nomination, HBO series The Leftovers and My Brilliant Friend and most recently White Boy Rick, Mary Queen of Scots and the sci-fi drama Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt. His music is also featured in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir and in the Oscar-winning Arrival by Denis Villeneuve. Most recently, Richter’s cinematic track ‘In The Nature of Daylight’ was featured in HBO series The Last of Us resurfacing the track to the top of the Spotify charts. He has worked on sci-fi drama Spaceman, directed by Johan Renck, due for release 2023. A frequent collaborator in fashion, Max has worked with the creative director of Dior Homme, Kim Jones, for three seasons having produced music or performed at the brand’s runway shows. Most notably a mesmerizing performance against the backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo for the Fall 2023 show. Richter’s recorded project, The New Four Seasons, was released in 2022 marking ten years of his Vivaldi Recomposed project, re-recording the piece with period instruments. For his most recent release SLEEP: Tranquility Base, Richter returned to his celebrated eight-hour magnum opus SLEEP offering a glimpse into the original material from a more electronic standpoint ahead of World Sleep Day March 2023. Richter is currently working on new music.
Max Richter
Max Richter stands as one of the most prodigious figures on the contemporary music scene, with ground-breaking work as a composer, pianist, producer, and collaborator. From synthesizers and computers to a full symphony orchestra, Richter’s innovative work encompasses solo albums, ballets, concert hall performances, film and television series, video art installations and theater works. He is classically trained, studying at Edinburgh University, the Royal Academy of Music, London, and completing his studies with composer Luciano Berio in Florence. “Memoryhouse”, Richter’s 2002 debut, has been described by The Independent, and Pitchfork Magazine as a “landmark”, while his 2004 album “The Blue Notebooks'' was chosen by The Guardian as one of the best Classical works of the century. “SLEEP”, his eight- and-a-half-hour concert work, has been broadcast and performed worldwide, including at the Sydney Opera House, Berlin’s Kraftwerk, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie de Paris, and at the Barbican, London. In 2012 Richter ‘Recomposed’ the infamous Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, winning him the prestigious ECHO Classic Award, and an established place in the classical charts. In recent years Richter’s music has become a mainstay for many of the world’s leading ballet companies, including The Mariinski Ballet, La Scala Milan, The Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Semper Oper, and NDT, while his collaborations with Wayne McGregor for The Royal Ballet have been widely acclaimed. His most recent collaboration was with Margaret Atwood and Wayne McGregor, based on Atwood’s Maddaddam trilogy of novels, premiering in Toronto in September 2022
Richter has written prolifically for film and television, with recent projects including Hostiles, Black Mirror, Taboo – which earned him an Emmy nomination, HBO series The Leftovers and My Brilliant Friend and most recently White Boy Rick, Mary Queen of Scots and the sci-fi drama Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt. His music is also featured in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir and in the Oscar-winning Arrival by Denis Villeneuve. Most recently, Richter’s cinematic track ‘In The Nature of Daylight’ was featured in HBO series The Last of Us resurfacing the track to the top of the Spotify charts. He has worked on sci-fi drama Spaceman, directed by Johan Renck, due for release 2023. A frequent collaborator in fashion, Max has worked with the creative director of Dior Homme, Kim Jones, for three seasons having produced music or performed at the brand’s runway shows. Most notably a mesmerizing performance against the backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo for the Fall 2023 show. Richter’s recorded project, The New Four Seasons, was released in 2022 marking ten years of his Vivaldi Recomposed project, re-recording the piece with period instruments. For his most recent release SLEEP: Tranquility Base, Richter returned to his celebrated eight-hour magnum opus SLEEP offering a glimpse into the original material from a more electronic standpoint ahead of World Sleep Day March 2023. Richter is currently working on new music.
