Classic meets club

Where does classical modernism begin in concert, and where does the genre of “electro” begin in today's club culture? And how do electronic distortions of 14th-century vocal music sound? Can classical singers authentically translate 600-year-old vocal traditions into the present day? And how does a musical reading by Thomas Meinecke fit in with the electroacoustic sounds of Jan Jelinek? And what connects all this with the beats of John Eckhardt and the visualisation of Katrin Bethge?

One thing is certain: on May 10th at 8 p.m., audiences at Halle02 can look forward to an exciting experiment that has never been seen before in this form.

“The starting point is actually a very simple question: Why do so few young people attend classical or experimental concerts?” says Dominique Mayr, managing director of KlangForum Heidelberg. “And why don't we take our music to where young people already are and mix the audience?”

Halle02 quickly emerged as a project partner that was very open to such cultural experiments. And so, on this evening, there will be vocal works by Guillaume de Machaut from the 14th century and a solo work for piano by Sebastian Claren, “Sex” from 1996, but also a world premiere by Ukrainian composer Anna Korsun.

The starting point in terms of content are the terms we still use today for gender: they have undergone change, and their analysis in Michel Foucault's philosophy is at the center of the discourse. His late work The Confessions of the Flesh looks far back into the past, observes closely, and shows that the concept of sexuality has actually always been fluid. The same is true of music, which has accompanied humans since the beginning of time, always connected with bodies and desire. So shouldn't we find surprises similar to Foucault's when searching through music history?

The program expands this search with a reading by Thomas Meinecke and live mixed sounds by Jan Jelinek.

Finally, John Eckhardt and Katrin Bethge place Guillaume de Machaut's motets in a decidedly contemporary context in an electroacoustic performance with light projection, using the interpretations of SCHOLA HEIDELBERG as their source material.

SCHOLA HEIDELBERG:

Clémence Boullu - soprano
Julie Catherine – mezzo-soprano
Mercè Bruguera - alto
Johannes Mayer - tenor
Ferdinand Junghänel - baritone
Florian Drexel - bass

Ekkehard Windrich | Conductor

J. Marc Reichow - piano

Thomas Meinecke & Jan Jelinek | Musical reading
Katrin Bethge & John Eckhardt | Audiovisual performance