guest performance

Façade – an Entertainment

Façade – an Entertainment combines the dazzling incidental music of William Walton with the surrealistic, onomatopoeic poems of the English poet Edith Sitwell, performed by the renowned Scottish voice artist and actor Graham F. Valentine. With her striving for freedom, Edith Sitwell fought against Victorian double standards and provoked many a scandal in the 1920s. Today, the rise of regressive forces repeatedly threatens our democratic values. Two new, explosive ensemble works by Swiss-based composers Asia Ahmetjanova and Charlotte Torres, which were premiered at the “Gare du Nord” Basel in April of this year, provide fresh courage in the program of Ensemble Phoenix Basel.

NAXOS Hallenkonzerte

Produktionshaus NAXOS
Waldschmidtstraße 19
60316 Frankfurt am Main

https://naxoshallenkonzerte.de/facade/


Program

Asia Ahmetjanova (*1992) “Fledermäuse und Ikonen (bats and icons)” for ensemble (2024, German Premiere, commission EPhB) – 15’ Charlotte Torres (*1979) “Ton tonton tond ton thon et d’autres tons” for amplified ensemble (2024, German Premiere, commission EPhB) – 20’ William Walton (1902–1983) “Façade – an Entertainment” with poems by Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) for recitor and ensemble (1922) – 38’
Graham F. Valentine
voice
Jürg Henneberger
conductor
Christoph Bösch
flute, piccolo
Toshiko Sakakibara
clarinets, bass clarinet
Raphael Camenisch
alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone
Johann Tuttle
trumpet, piccolo trumpet
Antonio Jiménez-Marín
trombone
Daniel Stalder
percussion
Kirill Zvegintsov
piano
Friedemann Treiber
violin
Martin Jaggi
cello
Aleksander Gabryś
double bass