The annual Festival 20.21 kicked off last Monday in Leuven (Belgium) with a tribute to the way Johann Sebastian Bach developed the musical idiom. In the opening concert BACHC®AB, his Musikalisches Opfer was the thread along which the interweaving of past and present was spun. The name of the concert is a play on words with the composer’s name and …
By Wynold Verweij Those who think that balancing exercises mainly belong in a gym are wrong since last Saturday. In Annelies Van Parys’ piano concerto, Jan Michiels (piano) and Martyn Brabbins (conductor) with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra showed that a sophisticated tuning of timbre, nuance and tempo can lead to an intense listening experience. The 400-year history of the concerto …
Jan Michiels plays sparkling timbres in concerto Annelies Van Parys Read More »
SPECTRA, ensemble for new music, focuses with its new CD a tension on four Flemish composers who got their inspiration from abroad. Karel Goeyvaerts (1923-1993), born and raised in Antwerp, went to Paris to learn from Olivier Messiaen that rhythm and timbre, as well as pitch, are equally important musical parameters. He later developed this in multiple series, i.e. serialism. …
Belgian composer, Philippe Boesmans died last night after a short illness. Born on 17 May 1936 in Tongeren, Belgium, he and studied piano at the conservatory in Liège, where he was also introduced to serial composing techniques by Pierre Froidebise. It was only after coming into contact with the “Liège Group” (Henri Pousseur, André Souris, and Célestin Deliège [fr]) in …
BREWAEYS UNFOLDING is the title of a project dedicated to the hyperkinetic Flemish composer Luc Brewaeys (1959 – 2015). With an exhibition, a catalogue and a webpage, the curators have succeeded in keeping the colourful beauty of his musical career up-to-date. MATRIX (Centre for New Music) in Leuven is the driving force behind this project, in collaboration with KU Leuven …
Luc Brewaeys: a life of timbre, bells and exuberance Read More »
Sometimes you can hear from the first bar whether the collaboration between conductor, orchestra and composer is right. This rarity occurred at the premiere of Luc Van Hove’s Symphony IV, where the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Elim Chan, showed how energy, pride and pleasure can result in a gripping musical story. On paper, the new symphony has a classical …
Antwerp Symphony gives wings to Van Hove’s Symphony IV Read More »
Marcel Proust’s iconic chronicle A la recherche du temps perdu has been given a contemporary interpretation in a beautifully crafted recital by pianist Jan Michiels, complemented by live electronics (Juan Parra) and video art (Lise Bruyneel). The concert, last Saturday in De Singel in Antwerp, was announced as a cathedral of piano music, partly to do justice to the poetic …
The Spanish-German pianist Alfonso Gómez has dared to put Morton Feldman’s last three piano works on CD. His interpretation is remarkably light and sparkling, adding a new element to the meditative sound world of this American composer. The piano was the favourite instrument of Morton Feldman (1926 – 1987). “What is the difference between an orchestra and a piano? A …
Alfonso Gómez paints Morton Feldman with light and air Read More »
Luciano Berio, the Italian omnivore who, through his compositions, was constantly entering into discussion with musical culture, is the subject of a joint project by music centre De Bijloke Gent and MATRIX [Centre for New Music]. With the Berio 360° project, De Bijloke is bringing a selection of his works to the concert stage, and MATRIX is organising a web …
A winter walk in the musical labyrinth of Luciano Berio Read More »
Anyone looking for the squaring of the circle often ends up in poetry. Or in music, such as Squaring the Circle by Heleen Van Haegenborgh, which premiered last Saturday at Zindering, the festival around the sound of silence in Mechelen, Belgium. The performance was in the hands of the percussion ensemble GAME. The piece for four percussionists and electronics was …