Concert calendar

Performing Olivier Messiaen's last major work was a long-cherished wish of Principal Conductor Titus Engel—so with this concert, we now venture into the "afterlife." As a mammoth work with eleven movements, "Éclairs sur l'au-delà…" not only occupies the entire evening's program but also exceeds the conventional instrumentation of a symphony orchestra. This ambitious project is realized with 50 students from the Basel Academy of Music, who join the Basel Sinfonietta on stage, thus making this formidable ensemble possible. 

Messiaen, whose work was deeply intertwined with his profound Catholic faith, dedicated the work to a monumental theme: the biblical concept of heaven and eternity. With movement titles such as "Appearance of the Transfigured Christ" (first movement), "The Stars and the Glory" (eighth movement), and "Christ, Light of Paradise" (final movement), the work paints overwhelming musical pictures. For in addition to religious inspiration, Messiaen's perception was characterized by a unique quality: musical chords appeared to him as colors, a phenomenon that is particularly palpable in this work. His other great passion, ornithology, is also omnipresent in Messiaen's visions of the afterlife. The birds, which he revered as "little messengers of divine joy," are represented by a polyphonic, complex twittering and wander throughout the entire orchestra.

The composer himself did not live to see his final masterpiece; he died six months before its premiere in New York in 1992. But his musical farewell to the "afterlife" is anything but gloomy or melancholic—it is a luminous, twittering testament to hope.