This is how Klara titled the closing concert of the Klarafestival at BOZAR which was supposed to be a farewell concert to the United Kingdom as a member of the European Union on 29 March 2019, of all dates. But that party didn't happen: Hello Britain, then.
At the concert, music alternated with some text fragments read by authors Sulaiman Addonia, Jonathan Coe and Ali Smith. It was a well-intentioned link that Klara made between the Klarafestival and the Passa Porta festival, where these authors participated. Perhaps especially interesting for the British audience that was well represented. That was already noticeable during the reactions to the announcement of the concert. With her own style and charm, Greet Samyn processed some references to the Brexit events that evening, with wit and subtle irony.
The musical programme was beautifully composed around work that forges a bond between Europe and the United Kingdom. Benjamin Britten wrote Les Illuminations, a composition based on a text by French poet Arthur Rimbaud, John Tavener is a British twentieth-century composer and the Abscheidssymfonie by Joseph Haydn can be interpreted in two ways. First and foremost as a farewell, but also as a work by an Austrian composer who, as a European, spent a phase in London towards the end of his life and found success there. The Aurora Orchestra has London as its home base and is conducted by Franco-German cellist Nicolas Altstaedt. The vocal soloist was none other than Ian Bostridge. Very British indeed. My visit to this concert was particularly because of this unique tenor and the skillful work of Britten that he sang.
The protecting Veil, the serene work by John Tavener for cello and string orchestra, was a stylish musical performance of a work that in its religious atmosphere certainly evokes reminiscences of Messiaen or Pärt. Yet the style differs in the rich variations and the particular melodious sound, especially in the cello which skillfully dialogues with the other strings and also has some striking solo passages. They were performed movingly and intensely by Nicolas Altstaedt. Les Illuminations by Benjamin Britten begins with a curious call in Fanfare as the introduction to a collection of mysterious, incantatory poetry. The voice of Ian Bostridge is, as always, phenomenal and with its typical, very distinctive timbre perfectly suited to these French songs. Ian Bostridge sings with an agile voice that remains beautiful to listen to. Whether he sings very high notes or lower sounds, the voice carries and remains intact. He sings with a conviction that astounds, with an empathy that gives Rimbaud's symbolist poetry substantial comprehensibility, a sensuality that evokes the erotic character of some texts. For a non-French-speaking singer, his pronunciation is exemplary. He also sang along with the encore at the end of the concert: a Beatles song in an arrangement by Iain Farrington! The musicians of the Aurora Ensemble dripped onto the stage again after their "obligatory" departure at Haydn's Farewell Symphony and set off In my life, with Bostridge joining them smoothly. A pleasant and surprising finale to this concert and to the Klarafestival.
- WHAT: Goodbye, Hello. Closing concert of the Klarafestival with music by John Tavener (1944-2013), Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
- WHO: Aurora Orchestra, Ian Bostridge, Nicolas Altstaedt, Sulaiman Addonia, Jonathan Coe and Ali Smith
- WHERE: Henry Leboeufzaal, BOZAR, Brussels
- WHEN: Friday 29 March 2019
- PHOTO: © Alexandra Bertels