The composers of the Second Viennese School threw the musical rules to the winds by abandoning the familiar harmonic development of western music and by adopting as a guideline an arbitrary dodecaphonic scale in which the 12 notes are considered to be of equal status. With the same radicalism and wilfulness the pupils of the Arthur school will compose their own pieces. During this public presentation you will see and hear the result of this project as well as a video montage about the week’s proceedings and the meeting of the school children with the Goeyvaerts string trio.

in collaboration with De Veerman & Arthurschool Borgerhout

10 December, 2010 13:00

I can’t play this thing!’ With these words cellist James Whitehead flounced out angrily from the stage of the London Wigmore Hall during a performance of Anton Webern’s string trio. Perhaps he ought to have persevered a bit longer, because the work is a splendid example of structural and compositional inventiveness. With Thierry Knauff’s beautifully stylized short movie we can cast a glance on the life of the pioneering composer. The rest of this concert presents itself as a nostalgic recalling of old Vienna. On the one hand in the spirit of Arnold Schoenberg, who recovers from a heavy heart attack in the US, while concurrently learning about the terrible Holocaust. On the other hand from the viewpoint of Alfred Schnittke, who manages to escape from the cultural isolation of the Soviet regime through the Viennese music of Schubert, Mahler and Berg.

in collaboration with Cinema Zuid

Performers
Kristien Roels, violin | Kris Matthynssens, viola | Pieter Stas, violoncello

 

11 December, 2010 20:00 -- AMUZ

When La Petite Bande was founded in 1972 at the behest of the German record company Harmonia Mundi, it was not their purpose to form a permanent orchestra. However, the success of the recordings was such that the group started performing on a regular basis. And after almost forty years they are still doing that, much to the enjoyment of music lovers. AMUZ requested this legendary baroque orchestra to usher in the Christmas period, and what could be more suitable than Christmas cantatas by Bach? In addition to the six works that form together the Christmas Oratorio, Johann Sebastian also wrote several other cantatas for the Christmas period including Epiphany. Four of them are presented by Sigiswald Kuijken with a distribution of soloist singers.

Performers
Gerlinde Sämann, soprano | Petra Noskaiová, alto | Christoph Genz, tenor | Jan Van der Crabben, bass | Sigiswald Kuijken, artistic direction

Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach : Cantate Das neugeborne Kindelein, BWV 122 – Cantate Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57 – Cantate Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91 – Cantate Süsser Trost, mein Jesus kömmt, BWV 151

19 December, 2010 14:00 -- AMUZ

In the library Del Santo in Padua, under a constellation of fabulous frescoes by Antonio Pellegrini, there is a booklet that once may have been the property of the Italian composer Giuseppe Tartini. Throughout the years Tartini allegedly collected in it repertoire for his own use, including some of his own sonatas for solo violin. Some of these works were completed with a matching basso continuo part, but the composer himself preferred a performance without accompaniment. These highly original works are combined in this programme with one of Tartini’s rare vocal compositions – Solitario bosco ombroso – in which the composer is clearly inspired by the heptameters of this famous idyll by Paolo Rolli. In other words: a unique programme, carefully chosen by both performers who on the basis of their ardent admiration for Tartini’s aesthetic philosophies ensure an unforgettable performance!

Performers
Patrizia Bovi, soprano & recitant | Chiara Banchini, violin

21 December, 2010 20:00 -- AMUZ

AMUZ launches the new year full steam with the young, Flemish stage talent Janos Bruneel. As a double bass player he proved his mettle in a flying gallop at the conservatories of Brussels and The Hague – where upon graduating he was immediately appointed as a teacher! – and he made a big splash with diverse ensembles at international competitions and festivals to boot. AMUZ has given Janos a free hand to organize a HIP jazz concert with music and musicians of his own choice. It’s going to be a special balancing act between instruments of yesterday and today, music from a distant past dressed up in a contemporary outfit, between respect for historical performance practices and concurrently questioning them. Improvisation techniques of today applied to polyphonous compositions: a daring but dashing beginning of a musical top year at AMUZ!

Performers
Carlos Bruneel, flute | Bart Van Caenegem, fortepiano | Janos Bruneel, double bass & artistic direction

16 January, 2011 14:00 -- AMUZ

Andreas Staier is a very smart musician with a sense of patience that makes him take his time for the masterpieces demanding just that. It took him some twenty-five years before he performed Bach’s masterly Goldberg variations in public, and it was only at the end of 2009 that his CD recording op this work was released. For Staier there is no doubt that this work is most adequately performed on harpsichord: “Bach takes optimally advantage of the sound possibilities of both keyboards. That is exclusively typical of the harpsichord, and it is totally impossible to convey this on a piano”. The mutual mastery of composer and performer find their match in the choice of sound colours and timbres with a view to making this series of variations shine in its diversity and compositional richness without, however, neglecting the coherent, cyclical structure.

in collaboration with Concertgebouw Brugge

Performers
Andreas Staier, harpsichord

Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach: Goldbergvariaties, BWV 988

22 January, 2011 20:00 -- AMUZ