On April 7th at 7:00 pm, we present "Ligeti in Africa" at the Stadtcasino Basel, featuring works by Lukas and György Ligeti and Hanna Kendall. Under the direction of Chloé Dufresne, and together with pianist Joonas Ahonen and the African pop band Burkina Electric, African pop and contemporary European orchestral music meet in this 4th subscription concert.
Africa is currently a major focus in cultural life. This encompasses many aspects: coming to terms with colonialism and post-colonial structures, exploitation and looted art, reflection on original artistic traditions, and genuine equality, self-determination, and participation. The fourth subscription concert also centers on Africa in various ways, with a particular emphasis on works by György Ligeti and his son Lukas Ligeti.
György Ligeti's Piano Concerto is free from stylistic constraints, a tour de force full of pianistic discoveries, a "departure into other soundscapes." Whole-tone scales and pentatonic scales, multiple keys simultaneously, complex rhythms, and distinctive instrumental colors form the composer's starting point for his exploration of Central African traditions in the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.
What György Ligeti wordlessly presents as an association is addressed in Suite for Burkina Electric and Orchestra . The texts are primarily by singer-songwriter Maï Lingani, guitarist Wende K. Blass, and Ligeti himself. They deal with climate change, the critical dominance of capitalism, and a tribute to Abdel Kader Haïdara, who risked his life in 2012 to save one of Africa's greatest cultural treasures from Islamists.
The suite illustrates why Ligeti is considered a pioneer of intercultural, interactive composition. He combines contemporary modernism, electroacoustics, jazz and pop music, multi-artistic approaches, and non-European musical and artistic traditions: all of this both improvised and notated. Ligeti also emphasizes the equal participation of local talent.
The composer Hannah Kendall's family roots lie in Guyana, a British colony until 1966. Her work "The Spark Catchers" refers to the so-called "Revolt of the Match Girls" in a London match factory in the summer of 1888. In this piece, Kendall employs abrupt contrasts in expression and dynamics. At the same time, she transcends boundaries between genres, styles, and musical cultures, thus advocating—like Ligeti—for intercultural exchange.
The concert is being organized in cooperation with the Paul Sacher Foundation as part of the exhibition «Ligeti-Labyrinth» and with the Culturescapes festival.
