Aton'&Armide

The expressive potential of the cello sonata can be hear in Debussy’s 1915 masterpiece, as well as in new works by two Belgian composers. Like Debussy’s wartime sonata, Fafchamps’ Trois chants pour mieux voir and Janssens’ (…nada.) convert a world in turmoil into a quest for color, and all three composers build on new inventions to sustain their post-utopian impressions. The Debussy sonata is performed on the 1904 Blüthner piano whose Aliquot-patented resonance strings so enamored the composer; Fafchamps and Janssens rely on “preparation” and electronics to paint their environs. Cello prodigy Benjamin Glorieux is equally eloquent on the gut strings of Debussy’s time as on modern steel strings. With piano partner Sara Picavet, he pays resounding homage to modernity in tradition. And to tradition in modernity.

Flagey, Centre Henri Pousseur