The Finnish Kaija Saariaho makes music change colour, just like a polished diamond. In her violin concerto Graal Théâtre the tones of the solo violin turn almost unnoticed into the sighs of a flute or the tenuous jingle-jangle of the percussion section.

Her Canadian colleague Claude Vivier could also do magic with sounds and tonalities. In Et je reverrai cette ville étrange he obsessively repeats melodies that are inextricably bound up with his life. A Balinese gong marks the beginning and the end. Dutchman Jan van der Putte searches for the essence of music. Musicians breathe in and out, bow without touching strings or are plagued by acute attacks of ‘the itch’ – he even sets down the movements in minute detail. In the new violin concerto he enriches his sound palette with the aid of live electronics.

Artists

CLAUDE VIVIER
Et je reverrai cette ville étrange
KAIJA SAARIAHO
Graal Théâtre
JAN VAN DE PUTTE
New work for violin and live-electronics 

ASKO|SCHÖNBERG
conductor Reinbert de Leeuw
violin Joseph Puglia