Talk and Concert
Chinese-Australian composer Liza Lim from Brunei moves between culturally distant spheres. Her pieces could be described as the findings of a fundamental search for clues in these differing realms. In Ochred String the “shimmer” of the bodies of Aboriginals painted with read earth (“ochre”) and rubbed with animal oils becomes the spiritual and aesthetic focus of the composition. The “alchemical dream opera” The Navigator picks up old myths that capture every extreme of passion, love, game-playing, chaos and despair in a constant flow of change. Mother Tongue, after poems by Patricia Sykes, traces the perception and emotion involved in language, of words as transformative gestures. Opposites, friction, fissures but also junctures and transitions characterise the composer’s colourful music.
Liza Lim is currently an artist in residence with the Berlin DAAD programme.
11:00
Liza Lim | composer talk
Max Nyffeler – moderation
12:00
Concert Part 1
Liza Lim
Ochred String for oboe, viola, violoncello and double bass (2008)
Weaver-of-fictions for Ganassi alto recorder
Prelude and excerpt from the opera The Navigator (2007) GP
Sensorium for soprano, countertenor, tenor Ganassi recorder/Paetzold double bass recorder, triple harp, viola d’amore
Concert version of scene 2 from The Navigator. Text: Patricia Sykes (2007) WP
Songs found in dream for small ensemble (2005)
Lunch break
13:30
Concert Part 2
Liza Lim
Mother Tongue
for soprano and 15 instruments. Text: Patricia Sykes (2005) GP
Elision Ensemble Brisbane
Simon Hewett – conductor
Susan Narucki – soprano / The Beloved
Andrew Watts – countertenor / The Navigator, The Fool
Geneviève Lacey – Ganassi recorders/Paetzold double bass recorders
In cooperation with Elision Ensemble Brisbane and Jewish Museum Berlin.
Co-production of MaerzMusik | Berliner Festspiele and Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD.
With support of Australian Council for the Arts, of Commonwealth Government of Australia’s Arts Advisory Body, State of Queensland and University of Queensland.
Thanks to Janine Wildhage and Christophe Landon (Rare Violins).
Recording for Deutschlandradio Kultur, broadcasting 10 March 20.03 hrs