This Month Yannick Talks about Matthew Aucoin’s Suite from Eurydice.
Conducting the full opera at the Metropolitan Opera last November/December was a great privilege. Matt is a genius orchestrator. His knowledge of all the possibilities of orchestration—with different colors and moods—is very impressive. I feel that when I conduct the work, I’m treating it almost like a piece by French Impressionists. And sometimes it also resembles the depth of Richard Wagner and has the rhythmic qualities of Béla Bartók. Even with those references, it’s a very personal language that Matt uses. His Suite is like a mini opera. It’s really a condensed version of the full score. It’s going to be a treat to perform it, even without the voices, because he knows how to write so well for the orchestra. In the middle of the Suite there is a great clarinet solo. This is one of the most touching moments in the opera. Matt told me that because he knew it was going to be played by Ricardo Morales he wanted to extend it.
This is another example of a wonderful collaboration between two great institutions of which I have the privilege of being at the helm—The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do when I’m conducting it.
The world premiere of Aucoin’s Suite from Eurydice will be performed February 3–5, 2022.
Photo: Jessica Griffin