Asko & Schönberg Ensemble . Reinbert de Leeuw

The Brussels Ars Musica festival has reached the age of twenty and has decided to celebrate it with deSingel by staging a four-day concert in Antwerp. The Asko and Schönberg Ensembles will open the series with none other than the top violinist Frank-Peter Zimmermann who will play the Violin Concerto by György Ligeti (1923-2006). In this ground-breaking work the composer examines new tonal systems that act as an alternative to the Western European well-tempered pianoforte and the twelve-tone technique. Moreover, he incorporates numerous quotations from other composers. Zimmermann and Asko & Schönberg recently made a critically acclaimed recording of this work conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw. In addition, De Leeuw will conduct a series of impressive twentieth-century masterpieces that serve as a reference point for Ligeti. They will also perform the moving 'Musica Concertante' by the Hungarian Kodály and Bartók disciple Sándor Veress (1907-1992), together with Claude Vivier's (1948-1983) theatrical 'Trois airs pour un opéra imaginaire ' with the amazing American soprano Susan Narucki. This programme includes work from that other radical innovator, Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) who had an unmistakable influence on Ligeti.