Iannis Xenakis is sometimes called ‘a Greek in the wrong millennium’, referring not only to his origins, but also clearly to his passion for the culture of antiquity. This fascination was shared by many composers before him. The baritone Georg Nigl, who last season gave a brilliant performance in Wolfgang Rihm’s Jacob Lenz, is backed by Andreas Staier, Luca Pianca and Martin Grubinger. He takes us on a captivating voyage of discovery through four centuries of music inspired by Greek antiquity. Their programme includes hightlights from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, via Schubert lieder, and Xenakis’ extremely expressive Kassandra cantata setting of words by Aeschylus, in which the soloist accompanies himself on the psaltery and enters into a dialogue with the exuberant percussion.
Cast and Creative team for Georg Nigl at Palace for Fine Arts
Baritono ¦ Georg Nigl Percussion ¦ Martin Grubinger Pianoforte ¦ Andreas Staier Lute ¦ Luca Pianca