One particular scene in concerts with Brazilian singers never ceases to surprise European audiences: Someone starts the first verse of a song on stage, then holds out the microphone to the audience and ten thousand people finish the verse without a single mistake in the lyrics as they dance in perfect rhythm to the song. That is MPB: Música Popular Brasileira is pop music in the literal sense of the word, it’s the music of the people. MPB is part of the Brazilian national identity, just like football. Carlinhos Brown’s African roots are obvious and on the stage he likes to emphasize the fact by wearing tribal headdress. He uses the name Brown in honour of his brother in the US, civil rights leader H. Rap Brown and singer James Brown. It’s going to be a hot night at AVO SESSION. Whoever wants to have a true MPB concert experience, should start learning Carlinhos’ songs by heart … .
Compaña Maria Serrano plays AVO Session
The Compañía Maria Serrano and their current ‘FlamenTango’ project is bound to set the ‘Elegant Gypsy’s’ soul aflame. Accompanied by four musicians and the singers Juan Cantarote and Immaculada Rivero, Maria Serrano and her partners Antonio Granjero and Javier Soriano meet the Argentinean tango-couple Romina Godoy and Milton Homann for a firework of sensuality and power, melancholy and happiness.
Jacques Loussier plays Avo Session
In the early 50s Jacques Loussier started to play a Bach fugue in a fleet-footed, flowing style, and he started to improvise on it. A good fifty years have passed since then, and Jacques Loussier’s «Play Bach» concept has become a worldwide phenomenon. His set list for the AVO SESSION Basel looks something like this: Johann Sebastian Bach (trio), Frédérique Chopin (solo).
Solomon Burke plays Avo Session
Black R&B is now such an established part of the pop mainstream that hardly anyone remembers what is was like when black music – under the name of “Soul” – first exploded into the European charts. One of the pioneers of the movement was Solomon Burke, with songs such as “Everybody Needs Somebody” and “Tonight’s the Night”. With such willing European disciples as Tom Jones and Van Morrison, pure Soul became mainstream pop.
Boris Berezovsky – Pianist and Virtuoso
The Russian Pianist Boris Berezovsky is one of the most virtuous Piano Interpreter of our times. One can tell that for him the borders of keyboard possibilities have not yet been reached. Boris Berezovsky bought attention to himself with his daring dexterity at the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. He won the Gold Medal straight off. The film accompanies Boris Berezovsky on his musical journey. The Artist Boris Berezovsky drives through the nightly Yekaterinburg, as a passionate player he goes to the casino and improvises along with a little Band in a Jazz Club.
Sina plays Avo Session
The great perfomance highly-acclaimed young Swiss singer-songwriter Sina and her band at Avo Session Basel.
Premieres Revisited – Haydn’s Daytime Symphonies at Schloss Esterházy
Il Giardino Armonico, conducted by Giovanni Antonini, performs the three Daytime Symphonies two and a half centuries after their premiere at their original concert venue, the magnificent Haydn Hall at Esterházy Palace. Premieres Revisited provides insight into the three works and combines their background with interviews and a passionate and virtuoso performance to convey an impression of the premiere at that time.
Sensitive Strings – Daniel Lozakovich and his Stradivarius
Young violinist Daniel Lozakovich performs on the world’s greatest stages. Since 2022, he has been playing an exceptional Stradivarius: the Sancy, which was the companion of the legendary Ivry Gitlis for more than sixty years.
The documentary follows the passing of the Sancy from Ivry Gitlis to the Swedish prodigy, highlighting the musical and emotional legacy that each virtuoso leaves on his instrument. It explores the intimate relationship between a musician and his instrument, considered an artistic alter ego of inestimable value.
What does an instrument pass on from one virtuoso to another? How much of Ivry Gitlis’ soul still vibrates under Daniel Lozakovich’s bow? Is there a secret formula for reproducing its magic today? Why can a Stradivarius fetch several million euros and fascinate musicians and collectors to such an extent?
Through a journey that takes us from France to Kyrgyzstan, via Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, the portrait of a major artist of our time emerges.
The Faces of Carmen – Aigul Akhmetshina
Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” is one of the greatest and most popular operas of all time. But who is Carmen herself? A heroine? A victim? A betrayer? Few characters in opera are as open to interpretation as the free spirit at the heart of Bizet’s masterwork. “The Faces of Carmen” takes an unusual approach to exploring this evergreen piece. The film follows rising 28-year-old opera star Aigul Akhmetshina as she undertakes a truly unique journey, performing the role of Carmen in six different productions in a single year. Her Carmen year takes her, and us, to some of the world’s greatest opera stages – Arena di Verona, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real, London’s Royal Opera House, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Metropolitan Opera – as she brings Carmen to life in a range of differing productions. Some are modernized, others traditional; some are directed by men, and some by women; some are new, some revivals. We hear about each interpretation in interviews with the directors and see excerpts from the finished productions. Additionally, extensive biographical material reconstructs Bizet’s life and his work on the opera.
Virtuoso & Viral
Three young, highly virtuoso musicians are revolutionizing the classical music world with musical freedom, authenticity, and digital communities. Hayato Sumino on the piano, Anna Lapwood on the organ, and Marcin on the guitar successfully win over new audiences for old masters, hereby securing the future of classical music.