Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin continues to buzz with a remarkably varied program of events — including this chamber concert by the Boulez Ensemble directed by Daniel Barenboim. Along with pieces by Beethoven and Schumann, the program offers a chamber-cameo of the fascinating composer Luca Francesconi.
Across the street over at the Staatsoper, Francesconi’s much-produced opera Quartett — based on Heiner Müller’s deconstruction of Les liaisons dangereuses — is at last getting its Berlin premiere. I well remember the US premiere production at the 2017 Spoleto Festival, which I covered for Musical America and Opera Now. And before the pandemic intervened, Francesconi’s new opera Timon of Athens was scheduled to be premiered at the Bayerische Staatsoper.
I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Francesconi and writing about his work for the Boulez Saal program book.
The video above is from an interview last year, when Barenboim premiered Daedalus, a work newly commissioned for Boulez Saal.
Filed under: Daniel Barenboim, new music, Pierre Boulez Saal
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 