Against the war
© Vasily Vereshchagin - The Apotheosis of War (1871)
We live in turbulent times: war is closer than we would like, and peace is more fragile than we once believed.
This five-part series is a reflection on the unrest affecting the world today. The first part of this concert focuses on war, highlighted by the powerful and confronting Berliner Requiem by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. From there, hope begins to emerge, and the longing for peace resonates in a selection of breathtaking choral works. Against the War is a thematic concert whose relevance is as poignant as ever.
The programme opens with ‘Peace on Earth’, in which Hessenberg’s Ach, Herr, mache mich zum Werkzeug deiner Friede offers a first plea for peace.
That hope is immediately confronted by the reality of war in Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat, presented here as ‘A Soldier’s Tale’.
‘War’ then turns its attention to the forces and mechanisms that fuel conflict. In ‘Death & Destruction’, Weill’s Berliner Requiem reveals the inevitable consequences of blind power and devastation. Finally, ‘Peace on Earth (Revisited)’ returns to the concert’s point of departure: with Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden, a cautious message of hope and humanity is heard once again, despite all the horrors that have unfolded.
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I. Peace on Earth
Hessenberg, Ach, Herr, mache mich zum Werkzeug deiner Friede
II. A Soldier's Tale
Stravinsky, L’histoire du soldat (trio version)
III. War
Weill, Potsdam 1 / Eisler, Kriegskantate / Potsdam 2 / Eisler, Römische Kantate / Potsdam 3
IV. Death & Destruction
Weill, Berliner Requiem
Mauersberger, Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst
V. Peace on Earth (revisited)
Schönberg, Friede auf Erden
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Conductor: Yuval Weinberg
Musicians: I SOLISTI & Chorwerk Ruhr
Soloists: Lore Binon (soprano), Jan Michiels (piano), Shirly Laub (violin), Benjamin Dieltjens (clarinet)Production: I SOLISTI & Chorwerk Ruhr
Co-production: PerpodiumProduced with the support of the Belgian Federal Government’s Tax Shelter incentive through Flanders Tax Shelter.