“The eye sees itself not, but by reflection, by some other things...” 

Years after completing his suite “Miroirs” for solo piano, Maurice Ravel cited this particular quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar as the inspiration for the work’s title. The quote describes how we do not see ourselves directly, but rather perceive ourselves in the reflections of external sources. In composing Miroirs, Ravel was seeing his own humanity reflected in nature - the night moths, the melancholy birds, the boat on the ocean... 

In this performance, four pieces written by the performer for piano and electronic track bring an extra dimension to the idea of reflection. Each of these pieces reflects the natural themes of Miroirs and communicates a personal musical response to each piece. 

On a parallel plane, a similar process occurs in the visual material accompanying this music. “Mirror” by Soviet film director Andrei Tarkovsky is a film which depicts its principal character indirectly, through reflections, memories and scenes of the nature in which he grew up. In this way we are transported to his inner emotional world, without ever really seeing the man himself. In many ways this film resembles the early life of the performer, growing up in the countryside in Ireland. In this performance, Tarkovsky’s film is paralleled with scenes from the performer’s own home, where he reveals himself through depictions of his own memories of the nature in which he grew up. In this way he enters into a dialogue both with Ravel and Tarkovsky, and Ravel and Tarkovsky end up engaged in their own kind of dialogue too.

 

 

Seán Morgan-Rooney

De Ierse, in Nederland wonende en werkende pianist Seán Morgan-Rooney is een van de toonaangevende jonge pianisten van vandaag. Seáns vroege studies waren bij John O'Conor aan de Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. Daarna studeerde hij bij professor Christopher Elton aan de Royal Academy of Music in Londen en bij David Kuyken aan het Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Hij is ook een alumnus van de IMS Prussia Cove in Engeland, het Banff Centre's Piano Program in Canada en het Aspen Music Festival in de VS. Hij won verschillende prijzen voor zijn spel. Zo was hij pianofinalist van de BBC Young Musician of the Year-competitie, winnaar van de Charles J. Brennan-prijs op de 10e Dublin International Piano Competition en won hij Else Cross Prize voor hedendaagse muziek van de Royal Academy of Music. Ook is Sean finalist van de Dutch Classical Talent Award. Seán is naast het uitvoeren van traditioneel repertoire betrokken bij interdisciplinaire uitvoeringen. Zo trad hij op in verschillende samenwerkingsverbanden, waaronder Amsterdam Fashion Week, het Eye Film Museum en Splendor Amsterdam. Seán componeert ook zijn eigen muziek, met de nadruk op live piano met elektronica. Momenteel speelt hij op een Hamburg Steinway uit 1929, die hem genereus in bruikleen is gegeven door het Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds.

 

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