… it is clear that Fournel’s striking mind works in tandem with his fingers. We look forward to hearing this pianist again.Gramophone Magazine
The 2021 edition of the Queen Elisabeth Competition for piano was remarkable in many ways. No audience, face masks, and after 30 years a French pianist won the competition again. Winner Jonathan Fournel is now finally coming to DE SINGEL. He dives into the romantic emotional world of the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin and the poetic melodies of his famous Piano Concerto No. 2. The Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, one of Poland’s leading orchestras, is conducted by rising star Mirian Khukhunaishvili.
After the interval they send you into the night with Become Ocean by the American composer John Luther Adams. The New Yorker described this work as 'the most beautiful apocalypse in music history'. Become Ocean is part of a cycle that Adams composed around the four elements. He believes that humankind is able to transcend the isolation and cynicism of modern society by seeking contact with something that it bigger than itself. This haunting masterpiece won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2014 and feels like a hypnotic trip to the core of being human.
Co-funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland under the Inspiring Culture programme. In cooperation with the Polish Institute - Cultural Service of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Brussels.