Oliver Knussen loved to explore utopian worlds. In his short piece for winds Choral, shifting “choirs” create a variety of spatial effects. The physicality of sound also shapes Clara Iannotta’s The purple fuchsia bled upon the ground. The title is borrowed from an Irish poem, whose vivid language inspired the Italian composer to create an experimental instrumentation that includes electric guitar, MIDI piano, and accordion. The Concerto for Orchestra by George Benjamin, who is also the conductor of this musica viva concert, was written in memory of Knussen: it is a turbulent work that seeks to evoke Knussen’s energy, humour, and spirit. The concert concludes with Harrison Birtwistle’s Deep Time: a breathtakingly colourful piece, alternating between the melancholy character of the English horn and cataclysmically pulsating moments.

EPSG:4326

George Benjamin & Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Munich Residence

What do insect molting and large-scale tree fungi have in common? They follow a clear process, both intoxicating and fragile. Take Stefan Wirth's "Eleusis," for example: Like tree mycelia, which can form a vast fungal network, the orchestra spreads throughout the entire space. The Swiss composer, who teaches in Lucerne, speaks of a "ritual act." A trance-like state is expressly desired.

Rausch / Mushrooms

Philharmonic Essen

Intoxication / Mushrooms

Stadtcasino Basel

a vapor (no body, no image) is a seance meant to conjure a terrain in which to house an awkward, absent, and collective mourning. Timothy McCormack’s work articulates and reckons with how queer individuals learn of, reconcile, grieve, and hold space for the lost generation of queer and gay individuals who died during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and '90s. What is the source of grief when lived experience was not shared with the dead? How do we grieve a ghost? Soloist Ty Bouque helps to articulate this peculiar and devastating mode of mourning, using the journals of writer and AIDS victim Hervé Guibert.

TECTONICS: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra 1

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

The NDR Radiophilharmonie and soprano Anja Petersen are guests at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg - with works by Clara Iannotta and Arnulf Herrmann.


Elbphilharmonie Visions. Pierre Bleuse and Anja Petersen

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

All energies are spent. Clara Iannotta canvasses the empty chest from which the heart has stealthily withdrawn, whilst George Lewis contemplates the insoluble predicament of humankind’s double nature as both mental and physical beings. In this inhospitable terrain, where all seems lost to the world, Brendan Champeaux, Shiqi Geng and Yiran Zhao stake out a territory of new sound architectures: three world premieres by a new generation of composers.

Clara Iannotta

Events

Past events

Dec 12, 2025

George Benjamin & Pierre-Laurent Aimard · Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Nov 2, 2025

Rausch / Mushrooms · Basel Sinfonietta

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