Liszt Happening

The annual composer happening at deSingel will this year be fuelled by the groundbreaking and inexhaustible oeuvre of Franz Liszt (1811-1886). This is music ranging from the most poetical laments to the most sumptuous virtuosity, from the most devoutly whispered prayers to the most secular excesses. Philippe Herreweghe and deFilharmonie start the day off with three symphonic poems, a genre that Liszt himself invented. He marked out the general course of later orchestral music with his rare wealth of orchestral colours and a visionary sense of thematic transformation. These works show how wrong it would be to dismiss Liszt as just a pianist. The piano is nevertheless the thread running through the Liszt Happening. In four separate sections, Steven Osborne plays the 'Harmonies poétiques et religieuses', one of Liszt's piano masterpieces. In the afternoon you will have the opportunity to listen to lesser-known chamber music performed by Jos van Immerseel, Midori Seiler and Sergei Istomin with students of Antwerp Conservatory. The baritone Konrad Jarnot and pianist Hartmut Höll will shed light on several aspects of Liszt's wealth of Lieder writing. The climax of the day will undoubtedly be the 'Dante Symphony'. Just like Dante's 'Divine Comedy', Liszt's musical adaptation is a composition of extremes. Philippe Herreweghe will guide deFilharmonie and the KoorAcademie from hell and purgatory to paradise, rising to a monumental choral finale. Museum tour: Liszt in Antwerp A special Liszt Tour has been mapped out together with the Museum of Fine Art in Antwerp. Liszt visited the city several times between 1841 and 1886, and to focus attention on this, the Museum of Fine Art will be retrieving several interesting paintings from its reserves. Paintings that Liszt loved will be shown alongside pictures of Antwerp as he knew it. The route will be explained in five guided tours before and after the Liszt Happening. In addition, anyone who comes on 15th April will be served up with some of the richness of the piano's sounds. If you show your ticket for the Liszt Happening you pay a reduced admission fee for the museum. Royal Museum of Fine Art, Antwerp Guided tours on 15 April (2 & 3 pm), 19 April (2.30 pm), 26 April (2.30 pm) and 29 April (3 pm). €7.50 / ticket-holders for the Liszt happening, and Friends of the KMSKA pay only €3.50. Information and bookings on 03 242 04 16 . Leopold De Waelplaats . Antwerp