Together with photographer Mat Hennek, French star pianist Hélène Grimaud, comes up with a multimedia concert project at the Grand Hall of Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. Grimaud’s virtuous piano performance is accompanied by Hennek’s highly praised photo series “Woodlands”, which depicts genuine portraits of trees, Grimaud’s piano recital includes works by romantic and impressionistic composers. They are connected by seven “Transitions”, written exclusively for Grimaud by British composer and DJ Nitin Sawhney.
The motives of Hennek’s Woodlands series create an extraordinary visual backdrop, which in combination with Grimaud´s pianistic “impeccable clarity and articulation” (Hamburger Abendblatt) and the Elbphilharmonie’s splendid acoustics grants a concert experience of a special kind.
Czech choreographer Jiri Kylián was moved to create Torso by the plight of the Russian dancers, Valery and Galina Panov, who found asylum in Israel. His own experience of being cut off from his homeland, after the Dubcek regime was crushed, has been a lasting influence on his work. This ballet, set to music by Toru Takemitsu, and dedicated to all in exile, expresses a profound feeling of dislocation. Sabine Kupferberg and Leigh Warren feature in this studio recording.
In the year of its 40th anniversary, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, famous for its performances of 20th and 21st century music, presented five very special programmes at the Cité de la Musique and the Théâtre de Chaillot in Paris, each one of them dealing with its own particular subject. The single works performed in the 5 concerts are available as 23 individual films. In Flexible Silence, performed at the Théâtre de Chaillot, the Ensemble Intercontemporain becomes part of Saburo Teshigawara’s latest creation. The Japanese choreographer combines the works of two leading 20th century composers, Toru Takemitsu and Olivier Messiaen. Dancers and musicians give an approach to this music as “a sculpture which is born on the spot, which keeps moving and disappearing” (S. Teshigawara)
