LDV45

JEAN-PHILIPPE COLLARD 29 Pictures at an Exhibition is an extremely visual piece. What role do you assign to images in your interpretation? Of course I’ve looked at the illustrations by Viktor Hartmann that inspired Mussorgsky, but I quickly forgot them. I’m less interested in the ‘Gate of Kiev’ or the ‘Marketplace at Limoges’ as such than in the general colour of the piece. I am constantly in search of colour. For me, the images intervene more in the relationship I seek to forge with the audience. Indeed, I sometimes speak to the audience during my concerts. Sometimes I feel the need to accompany the music with a fewwords about the programme, because I think it’s our duty as performers to get as close as possible to people’s hearts. To do that, I need to talk to them. But Pictures at an Exhibition doesn’t require words. It’s a wonderful work, because the principle of communication is at its height there. Themembers of the audience imagine that they’re going to see an exhibition. The titles are already very evocative in themselves: ‘Gnomus’, ‘Tuileries Gardens’, ‘Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks’, ‘The Hut on Fowl’s Legs’ and so on. The composition takes on its full meaning, because the image is already present and completely changes the perception of the music. Under such circumstances, our path is virtually mapped out for us already.