Polyphonies: Aïda Gabriëls & VRK
About the Event
Delve into the remarkable architecture of Brussels's majestic Palais des Beaux‐Arts and experience a concert designed to transform your appreciation of classical music. Witness a timeless demonstration of musical enchantment where multiple melodies intertwine through the ages. Created to complement one another yet navigating separate paths, this is a true representation of harmony amid diversity. Yet, what occurs as the musical voices shift roles, or as the audience sees things from a new angle? At what point does the complexity of these polyphonic strands unravel?
In the production Polyphonies, director Aïda Gabriëls interprets polyphonic music as a metaphor for societal interactions. Seventeen vocalists create a dynamic auditory landscape within the grandeur of Bozar’s Horta Hall. The group occasionally converges into a single entity or scatters into smaller clusters or individual elements. Under the baton of Kaspars Putniņš, the Flemish Radio Choir transitions through historical epochs, from the 14th‐century works of Guillaume de Machaut to modern pieces by composers like Julia Wolfe, Kaija Saariaho, Caroline Shaw, and Adja Fassa. Audiences are encouraged to engage directly with the performance, roaming freely and choosing their moments to sit, recline, or lean.
Polyphonies reflects Gabriëls’ ongoing exploration into the adaptability of established norms and is an intellectual probe into societal mechanics focusing on leadership, community, indivisibility, inclusivity, and variance. It questions our interaction with differing viewpoints: Can societal harmony akin to a musical counterpoint be reversible? Is polyphony merely an idyllic concept?
Cast / Production
Vlaams Radio Koor, choir
Kaspars Putniņş, conductor
Adja Fassa, vocals
Alexis Nootens, interludes & ‘Swim’ (musical arrangement)
Aida Gabriels, concept, director, set design
Alain De Ley, conception musicale
Rudi Laermans, dramaturgy
Tessa Vannieuwenhuyze, dramaturgy
Lena Meyskens, dramaturgy
Anne van Es, set design
Anastasia Bay, images
