Songs and Fragments at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence

Southern France’s beloved Festival d’Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence returns this year with a collection of great performances, including two extraordinary contemporary pieces showcased in a single evening with the presentation of Songs and Fragments!

Peter Maxwell Davies introduces his creation, Eight Songs for a Mad King, alongside an equally incredible work by György Kurtág, Kafka-Fragmente. The gripping lunacy of King George III precedes Kafka’s exquisite ruminations on anxiety, making for a thought-provoking evening equally rich in history and intellectual insight. Unexpected territories of music and harmony are explored within these two pieces; their unorthodox subject matters align beautifully with their striking defiance of traditional musical conventions.

Baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle and soprano Anna Prohaska are by far the most qualified to take us on a journey across surprising musical landscapes. Coupled with Barrie Kosky’s immaculate staging, the scores of these unique productions will bristle with unparalleled vivacity upon the stage of the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume this year.

Songs and Fragments introduces two emblematic works of contemporary music and musical theatre in one sensational evening. A perfect production for all those with an interest in philosophy, madness in theatre, obsessions of the mind…

Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies offers a musical experience not quite like any other, exploring in depth the madness of history’s ‘Mad King’, King George the III of the English Isles. Dramatic and innovative employments of vocal techniques and theatrical elements sets this piece apart from the crowd, revealing contemporary music as a means of probing the most complex aspects of the human soul, utilizing unusual sonorities to arouse intense and often disconcerting emotions.

György Kurtág’s Kafta-Fragmente plunges its audience into the existential world of prolific novelist Franz Kafka via a procession of striking violin and soprano miniatures. The piece becomes a living, breathing thing in its own right as it pushes back the boundaries of musical experimentation, creating enigmatic atmospheres that will undoubtedly stay with audiences long after the curtain drops.

Innovation and explorative sonic textures showcase the creativity of these two contemporary composers. Their respective compositions are inexorably demonstrative of the incredible ability of contemporary music to broaden the horizons of the listener as they are coaxed out of their comfort zones. Open up your minds and hearts, and allow these _ of Songs and Fragments to surprise and delight you at the 2024 Festival d’Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence, as performed at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume!