© Wim Heirbaut
staged concert
Don’t leave the room
Ensemble Nadar
Joseph Brodsky’s poem Don’t Leave The Room, an exhortation to action, serves as the starting point for this staged concert by Ensemble Nadar, reflecting on the place of humanity in today’s world—between censorship, hope, silence, and survival."
Repression—violent, pervasive, silent—and censorship in Russia and Iran are the theme of this staged concert by the Nadar Ensemble, whose dramaturgy springs from a poem and a film: Don’t Leave The Room (1969) by Russian author Joseph Brodsky, and The Chorus (1982), a short film by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. The first is set to music by Russian composer Alexander Khubeev, with a deaf actress conveying the text in sign language, while the second resonates with a new work by Iranian composer and animation filmmaker Golnaz Shariatzadeh. They dedicate their works and this concert to their compatriots who risk their lives and freedom in the fight against totalitarianism.
Program
Abbas Kiarostami
The Chorus
(1982)
Galina Ustvolskaya
Piano Sonata 6
(1988)
Alexander Khubeev
Silentium !
(2025)
Golnaz Shariatzadeh
Bluer Womb
(2025)
Alexander Khubeev
Don’t leave the room
(2025)
Cast
Ensemble Nadar
performance Elena Evstratov
flutes Katrien Gaelens
clarinet Dries Tack
trombone Thomas Moore
violin Marieke Berendsen
violoncelle, direction artistique Pieter Matthynssens
e-guitare Nico Couck
piano Elisa Medinilla
percussion Yves Goemaere
conducting Stefan Prins
sound Wannes Gonnissen
lights, video Steven Reymer
VGT Floor Vandevelde, Soetkin Bral
production Musica, Gaudeamus (Utrecht), DE SINGEL (Antwerp), Muziekcentrum De Bijloke (Ghent), Ultima (Oslo), Nadar Ensemble
with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
Silentium! by Alexander Khubeev is a commission from Ultima (Oslo) and Gaudeamus (Utrecht), within the ULYSSES Platform, co-funded by the European Union
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