Dit concert vindt plaats op de 50e verjaardag van Lera Auerbach en is het muzikale hoogtepunt van het Lera Auerbach Festival dat in Den Haag plaatsvindt.
Netherlands Chamber Choir
Lera Auerbach conductor
Yang Yang Cai piano
Thorwald Jørgensen theremin
Vitaly Medvedev percussion
Kalina Vladovska percussion
The (Jewish) Austrian-American composer Lera Auerbach, who was born in the Soviet Union, is turning 50 and she is celebrating with the Nederlands Kamerkoor. With the world premiere of a new extensive piece by her for piano and choir: Flights of the Angakok, the composer also makes her debut as a conductor with the choir.
The Nederlands Kamerkoor has previously performed highly enthusiastic premieres of Auerbach’s hand: 72 Angels and Goetia: in umbra lucis. Her musical idiom is influenced by her own personal background: from Russian masters such as Rachmaninov and Shostakovich to Jewish traditional music.
For her next major choral work, Lera Auerbach drew on personal experiences.
Her visit to the Arctic and meeting the indigenous population touched her deeply. Flights of the Angakok thus became an urgent work that strongly refers to the current climate crisis and its impact on the culture of the original inhabitants of the Arctic. The libretto was created with the help of elders from the Inuit community, in the original Inuit languages Inuktitut and Kalaallisu.
Not only the nature of the “Arctic” is in danger, but also the rich culture in this unique area. Auerbach was inspired for Flights of the Angakok by the mythical Inuit shaman – the angakok. In the work, the pianist plays the role of the shaman, while the choir sings about the spirits of nature (light/sun, wind, water) in a ritual-like song. The young Dutch top talent Yang Yang Cai takes care of the piano part. The Netherlands Chamber Choir is enriched by the presence of Inuit soprano Deantha Edmunds.
Flights of the Angakok is a sequel to Lera’s fourth symphony, entitled Arctica, whose world premiere took place in 2019 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. With this new extensive piece, the composer also makes her Dutch debut as a conductor.
Thu. 12 October 2023 20:15
Sat. 21 October 2023 21:00
Tue. 24 October 2023 20:30
Thu. 26 October 2023 20:00