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It is certainly a privilege and a pleasure to be involved in this unique recording of film music by John Williams, arranged for trio by pianist Simone Pedroni, with Sara Andon on flute.

It is very moving for me to think back to the origins of my personal encounter with John Williams. The very first time we met was when my childhood friend, Yo-Yo Ma, elegy for cello and orchestra in Los Angeles, where I also played. The interaction between Yo-Yo and the maestro was intense as they delved deep into the sophisticated harmonies, colors and emotions. John Williams was very fascinated and touched by our long-standing friendship from our early years in Paris. Our families knew each other in France before we were born and after hearing Yo-Yo play the cello so beautifully (he was four at the time!), I asked my mother to play the cello. His father introduced me to Yo-Yo’s first teacher in France and the rest is history.

A few years later we worked together again when we recorded the score for The Geisha. The two soloists who played John Williams’ music were again Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma. We performed at Royce Hall in Los Angeles and I will never forget the immense emotions that these three musicians offered us. The following year I was asked to play the solo of Geisha with two different orchestras and to my surprise, after hearing about these upcoming concerts, John Williams asked me to play the piece for him! That was the beginning of a great adventure. My friend, the extraordinary pianist Simone Pedroni and I went to his house and played The Geisha and the Elegy. What a great joy and honor that the great composer took the time to listen and express his appreciation! Two hours of pure bliss.

In the meantime, Robert Townson produced a solo piano recording of John Williams’ music with Simone Pedroni. Then he had the visionary idea of ​​having Simone arrange several of John’s film scores for trio (flute, cello and piano). It was definitely the first arrangement for this type of chamber music ensemble for a film score and historically notable. When he asked me to participate in this unique project, I was incredibly excited and happy.

It was definitely the first arrangement for this type of chamber music ensemble for a film score and historically remarkable

Playing this repertoire was a challenge, as none of us wanted to distort or betray the original symphonic ideas. Fortunately, Simone’s arrangements made it completely understandable, believable and respectful: they sound as if they were originally written for this piano-flute-cello line-up.

Each piece required a certain “instrumental” adaptation to meet the original purpose of the film music. For example, in the Pictures Film music, the horror film by Robert Altman, the keyword In search of the unicorn contained some repeated improvisational passages. On the cello I used some glissandi, ponticello, seagull effects and frotté on the strings to create a terrifying and threatening effect. In The Geishait was interesting to find different types of vibrato and glissandi to emphasize the “Asian” aspect of the film without using the usual “melodramatic” aspect or overdoing it with a simplistic cliché.

In this album the cello is used as a substitute for various instruments such as trumpet, horn and guitar. Pony riding (The river), the cello serves as a guitar for a while. This long use of pizzicato required me to lower my bow to “free” the fingers of my right hand and make it sound “fluid”, which was not so obvious at first! The Schindler’s List The theme is one of my favorites because it is so poignantly emotionally charged. Yes, it was originally written for violin, but it seems that audiences everywhere feel equally moved by the cello part. When I performed it recently, we could feel a very intense and emotional response from the audience, especially when we played it at the Krakow Film Music Festival in 2023, in the very city where Oskar Schindler’s factory still exists.

Playing for John Williams several times was truly a gift, especially after we received his enthusiastic approval for this project. I will always remember the day our trio played for him together for the first time. It was around his 90th birthday and of course he was celebrated everywhere. When we heard him say after our performance, he told us: “That was one of my best birthday presents” The face of Pan (Hook) was the ultimate reward for which I will be eternally grateful.

John Williams: Reinterpretation will be released on August 23rd by Warner Classics

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