La Monnaie’s New Year’s Concert takes place at Bozar’s Henry Le Bœuf hall in Brussels on January 9, 2027. Pieter Mellaerts is the marimba soloist in Creston’s Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra, with Alain Altinoglu conducting the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra. The concert’s subtitle is “Paris, Paris”.
Date and venue
- Saturday, January 9, 2027, at 8pm (Brussels local time)
- Bozar, Henry Le Bœuf, Brussels, Belgium
Performers
- Pieter Mellaerts — marimba
- Alain Altinoglu — conductor
- La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra — orchestra
Programme
- George Gershwin: An American in Paris
- Paul Creston: Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra, Op.21
- Manuel Rosenthal: Gaîté parisienne (after Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne)
Tickets
Standard tickets €12–50; under 30 €10–25; Young Opera €10–20; under 18 €10. Check the official ticket page for current seat categories and eligibility.
About the work and score
American composer Paul Creston completed this approximately 15-minute work in March 1940. Widely recognized as the first concerto for solo marimba and orchestra, it has three movements: I. Vigorous, II. Calm and III. Lively. Read the work profile and the composer’s note at Wise Music Classical for more.
Ruth Stuber, later known as Ruth Stuber Jeanne, gave the premiere on April 29, 1940, with the Orchestrette Classique conducted by Frederique Petrides at Carnegie Chamber Music Hall in New York, now Weill Recital Hall . The soloist’s interview preserves the original programme and her account of the performance.
The score on Amazon is G. Schirmer’s piano reduction for marimba with piano accompaniment (ED3502 / HL 50337080, ISBN 9780793555352). The score-edition page gives its publisher details. This concert uses orchestral accompaniment; the purchase link leads to the piano-accompanied edition.