© Photo : Alix Laveau

Marc-André Dalbavie is now one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation, having opened up contemporary music in numerous directions. He has received commissions from the most prestigious orchestras (Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic…), as well as from musical institutions such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, London’s ’Proms’ Festival, Aspen (Colorado) Music Festival, Marlboro (Vermont) Festival, Radio France’s Présences festival, Cité de la Musique in Paris…
Starting from research on timbre and the phenomenon of sound, linked to electronics, he went on to produce a set of spatialised acoustic pieces. These create a spatial sensation in continuous transformation, within which the listener is immersed. Written especially for the halls and venues where they were to have their first performances, some of them are even in situ works and, as such, modify the framework of the traditional concert.
At the same time, the composer began work on the orchestra in order to explore full potentialities, from sound diffraction up to the symphonic bloc, gliding from one to the other via the principle of generalised morphing.
This innovative context has enabled him to lift several modernist taboos, and he has thus reintegrated consonance and rhythmic beat, redeployed the genres of concerto or certain chamber music combinations, given back its melodic fluidity to the voice, and rethought the question of text/music relations.
In October 2010, he conducted the premiere of his first opera, Gesualdo, on a libretto by Richard Millet, at the Opernhaus in Zurich, directed by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser. He is currently writing a ballet for the New York City Ballet on a choreography by Peter Martins.

-----------------------------------2015

> News

- CD release: Sonnets for counter tenor and orchestra, and Sextine Cyclus for counter-tenor and ensemble, by Yuriy Mynenko (Sonnets), Jean-Paul Fauchécourt (Sextine Cyclus) and the Gulbenkian Orchestra, under the direction of Marc-André Dalbavie, for the label Ameson.

- Composer in residence at Davos Festival 2015.

- CD release: Charlotte Salomon (excerpt), opera for soloists voices and orchestra on a libretto by Barbara Honigmann from the work of ”Charlotte Salomon” translated from German by Johannes Honigmann, by the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, under the direction of Marc-André Dalbavie, for the label Cherbuliez Productions.

-----------------------------------2019

> News

- Awarded the 2018 Stoeger Prize for composers by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

MONOGRAPHIC CD

> 2019 / Seattle Symphony Media - Marc-André Dalbavie: La source d’un regard & Concertos
LA SOURCE D’UN REGARD, for orchestra
OBOE CONCERTO, for oboe and orchestra
Mary Lynch (oboe)
FLUTE CONCERTO, for flute and orchestra
Demarre McGill (flute)
CELLO CONCERTO, for cello and orchestra
Efe Baltacigil (cello)
Seattle Symphony - Ludovic Morlot (conductor)

> 2015 / Cherbuliez Productions - »Frei Otto – Finding Form Jens Harzer spricht Frei Otto« (box of 4 Cds)
CHARLOTTE SALOMON, opera for soloists voices and orchestra (excerpt)
Libretto by Barbara Honigmann from the work of Charlotte Salomon translated from German by Johannes Honigmann
Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg - Marc-André Dalbavie (conductor)

COLOR, for orchestra
CONCERTO POUR VIOLON, for violin and orchestra
CIACCONA, pour orchestre
Violon : Eiichi Chijiiwa
Orchestre de Paris
Christoph Eschenbach, conducting
Naïve / MO 782162

CONTERTATE IL SUONO, for orchestra
ANTIPHONIE, double concerto for clarinet, basset horn and orchestra
DREAM OF THE UNIFIED SPACE (THE), concerto for orchestra
Clarinet : Romain Guyot
Basset horn : Jérôme Voisin
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Pascal Rophé, conducting
Densité 21 / DE 007
> Contains the DVD: ”Marc-André Dalbavie: the dream of a sound space”
A film by Serge Leroux

VARIATIONS ORCHESTRALES SUR UNE OEUVRE DE JANÁčEK, for orchestra
SINFONIETTA, for orchestra
ROCKS UNDER THE WATER (THE), for orchestra
Orchestre Philharmonique de Monté-Carlo
Marc-André Dalbavie, conducting
AmeSon / ASCP 0711

PALIMPSESTE, for sextet
TRIO, for violin, horn and piano
TACTUS, for clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano and string quintet
Ensemble Itinéraire
Marc-André Dalbavie, conducting
Nocturne - Soupir Éditions S209 / NT100

SONNETS, for counter-tenor and orchestra
THE KEEL ROW (from Trois chansons populaires), for counter-tenor and orchestra
NOUS N’IRONS PLUS AU BOIS from Trois chansons populaires), for counter-tenor and orchestra
DO, DO, L’ENFANT DO (from Trois chansons populaires), for counter-tenor and orchestra
SEXTINE CYCLUS *,for counter-tenor and ensemble
Counter-tenor: Yuriy Mynenko and Jean-Paul Fauchécourt *
Orquestra Gulbenkian
Marc-André Dalbavie, conducting
Ameson ASCP 1326

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WORKS OF MARC-ANDRE DALBAVIE

COLOR, for orchestra
Orchestre Philharmonique Slovène
Emmanuel Villaume, conducting
Virgin Classics / 50999 070193 2 6

CONCERTO POUR FLÛTE, for flute and orchestra
Flute : Emmanuel Pahud
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Peter Eötvös, conducting
EMI Classics / 50999 5 01226 2 2

CONCERTO POUR PIANO, for piano and orchestra
Piano : Leif Ove Andsnes
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Franz Welser-Möst, conducting
EMI Classics / 50999 2 64182 2 3

SOURCE D’UN REGARD (LA), for orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
George Benjamin, conducting
RCO Live / RCO 09003

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

COLOR, MARC-ANDRE DALBAVIE
Directed by Cécile Reynaud
© CNDP, premier trimestre 2011

LE SON EN TOUS SENS
Interviews with Guy Lelong (2005)
Gérard Billaudot Editeur / GB7816