mezzo‑soprano Elaine Mitchener
programme
Njabulo Phungula – Playground Postcard
Sofia Gubaidulina – Aus den Visionen Hildegard von Bingen
Canela Palacion – Taaaa tata
Julius Eastman – Buddha
Younghi Pagh‑Paan – Noch… Ma’am
Raven Chacon – Where the Lightning Will Never Find Me
Salvatore Sciarrino – Infinito Nero
At the centre is Infinito Nero by Salvatore Sciarrino, a powerful solo work based on the visions of the 17th-century mystic Maria Maddalena de’Pazzi. Through whispered voices, audible breathing, sudden cries and extremely fragile sounds, Sciarrino gives voice to an inner struggle: a soul swept away by religious ecstasy. The music constantly shifts between silence and overwhelming intensity, and feels at once powerful, unsettling and physical.
In contrast stand the radiant, spiritually charged sound worlds of Sofia Gubaidulina, inspired by the visions of Hildegard von Bingen. Her music radiates calm and spirituality, evoking a sense of light and inner spaciousness.
In works by, among others, Raven Chacon, Julius Eastman, Njabulo Phungula and Younghi Pagh-Paan, spirituality acquires a political and historical meaning. These works also address ancestry, identity and resistance, and the connection to ancestors and communities, across time and cultural boundaries.
Visions invites attentive and open listening. It is a programme in which every sound matters, in which breath and silence gain a power of their own, and in which music is not only heard, but experienced physically.