Additional Information

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut have left their mark on our minds, as have the musical scores that have enhanced the images, particularly those by the great Hungarian composer György Ligeti… most of us don’t even know that his music enhanced this cinematography.

That’s why the SMCQ has made this theme one of its most unifying events, this Friday, February 28, at the Maison symphonique. Organist Jean-Willy Kuntz, the McGill Symphony Orchestra, and the SMCQ String Ensemble, conducted by Alexis Hauser, will perform pieces drawn from the soundtracks of these famous film productions.

Also on the program is an orchestral creation by young Canadian composer Liam Ross Gibson, commissioned by the SMCQ. Alexey Shafirov will also play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.2. And we won’t miss the performance of Also sprach Zarathoustra, Richard Strauss‘s famous symphonic poem whose theme is the “trailor” from 2001, A Space Odyssey.

Event is presented as part of Festival Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques / 12^e édition (2025) — Musique et images.

Participants

• Jean-Willy Kunz, orgue
• Alexey Shafirov, piano
• Ensemble à cordes de la SMCQ
• McGill Symphony Orchestra
• Alexis Hauser, direction musicale

Designers

• Sylvain Marotte, conception visuelle

Program

• Musica ricercata (1951-53)György LigetiExtraitsJean-Willy Kunz, orgue solo
  • I, 2:30
  • II, 3:30
  • VIII, 1:15
  • X, 1:15
• Lontano (1967)György Ligeti
• Concerto pour piano no 2, op 16 (1912-13, 23)Sergueï Sergueïevitch ProkofievAlexey Shafirov, piano
• Continental Divide (2025)Liam GibsonCréationCommande: SMCQ
• Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, op 30 (1896)Richard Strauss