‘Have you ever been to a 100th birthday party? As part of my research for this festival, I attended György Kurtág’s 100th birthday concert in Budapest. The Maestro gets around in a wheelchair these days, but his eyes are crystal clear. “My mother tongue is Bartók,” Kurtág says, “and Bartók’s mother tongue is Beethoven.”

To celebrate Kurtág’s rare milestone, we feature one of his most important pieces: the Kafka Fragments from 1985/86. These are forty short aphorisms, commenting on life with great philosophical insight. When I first heard them performed, they permeated my consciousness and echoed in my mind for days.

Natsuko Yoshimoto takes on the formidable violin part, with the disarming vocal lines shared between Rachel Fenlon and myself. This isn’t musical hedonism (come to the Sunday evening concert for that) but it’s important reading for life.

A journalist in Budapest said that Kurtág’s music had taught him to listen more deeply, to work through his initial resistance to dissonance. I can’t help but wonder… maybe this is one of the reasons why we need contemporary music: to expand our comfort zones, and train our mental muscle to not resist difference, but to gently lean in.

This hour-long program will be followed by a chance to debrief, discuss and reflect over dinner and a Q&A with the artists.’

– Siobhan Stagg

Artists
Natsuko Yoshimoto | Violin
Siobhan Stagg | Soprano
Rachel Fenlon | Soprano