Concert calendar

Where does the image end, where does the sound begin? While film music and live-accompanied silent films have long since clarified their interplay, this concert takes a decisive step further: It combines contemporary video art with contemporary music. Three works not only blur the boundaries between seeing and hearing, but dissolve them entirely. 

A pioneer in this field was Edgar Varèse: With "Déserts," the French composer wrote a visionary composition for wind instruments, percussion, piano, and tape in the 1950s. The latter features prominently in three places: The work contains "interpolations," that is, interruptions or insertions in which these electronic recordings are heard. Several decades after the composition's creation, Ensemble Modern discovered notes by Varèse indicating that a visual component had been intended for the work. Subsequently, video artist Bill Viola created an accompanying film that completes Varèse's vision.

The Basel-based artist Jannik Giger also elevates sound and video art to a new level. Through the scenario of anonymous auditions, his art film "Blind Audition" illuminates power dynamics within the classical music world. Giger has created an orchestral version specifically for this concert in collaboration with Richard Elliot Haynes. 

The live music breaks through the isolation of the mediated level: unlike the solitary audition situation, the orchestra performs visibly as a collective. Thus, the entire hall, including the audience, becomes part of the whole: observing, participating… and judging? 

In keeping with the program's theme of "Crossing Borders," the concert also transcends geographical boundaries. Together with the Zagreb Music Biennale, the Basel Sinfonietta presents a new work by Croatian composer Helena Skljarov, whose multidisciplinary and innovative approaches have garnered worldwide acclaim. This multifaceted, interdisciplinary program can therefore be experienced not only in Basel but also as a guest performance in Zagreb.