“NIGHTS IN THE GARDENS” OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

March 8th, 2016
“NIGHTS IN THE GARDENS” OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

As winter turns to spring in New York City, Joyce Yang invites audiences into the lush gardens of Manuel de Falla’s musical imagination. She performs as soloist in five performances of the Spanish composer’s “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” with the New York Philharmonic, March 30-April 5. “It’s different from your usual piano concerto,” says Joyce. “Even though it’s in three movements, they don’t follow the traditional concerto form. It’s more like three brush strokes – and in the first seconds Falla tells us we’re in a totally different place.”

“The piece is like peeping into a secret garden. At the keyboard I feel as if I’m telling a bedtime story: “Once upon a time there were these mystical creatures that once existed in a secret garden far, far away…” It’s very sensual, and the melody is elusive. There is no cadenza to show off the soloist; often I’m a part of the fabric of the orchestra, like a harpist making the music shimmer. Sometimes I provide the momentum in a dramatic moment as we race to a cliff - and stop before falling. There are very few notes to work with compared with other big concertos. I have to make every note very special for it to come to life. Otherwise, without a nucleus, it can just pass you by.

“Nights in the Gardens of Spain ends quietly like the last twinkle in the sky as the night evaporates. The rhythms and contours of the Spanish language are here with all of its idiosyncrasies in the magic of this music.”

March 30-April 5
Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
New York Philharmonic / Bramwell Tovey, conductor
Joyce Yang, piano
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