Layla Claire, Meesun Hong Coleman, CAMERATA BERN

«This programme was created during the third lockdown and represents what I think we need right now: ILLUMINATION, in every sense! Freedom, natural light as opposed to the light bulbs in our living rooms, light-heartedness, contact and, last but not least, stage lighting.

To finally be able to perform again with my friends from CAMERATA BERN is a true joy and pleasure, and it is precisely this joy that we so desperately want to share with our audience after a whole year of hardships. With Les Illuminations, Britten translates poems by Arthur Rimbaud, an erratic and impulsive poet who led a nomadic and chaotic life, peppered with intrigue and turbulent events, into music. The work is, as you would expect, highly expressionistic and emotive. The solo part will be performed by my good friend Layla Claire.

In contrast, we play music by Henry Purcell as well as Britten’s first string quartet written in 1941, which I have arranged for CAMERATA BERN. The piece covers the entire spectrum, from stratospheric, celestial heights down to earthly reality, with raucous folk melodies and rustic rhythms, to a carefree and joyful final movement in which voices playfully flirt with each other and then dance wildly as if no one is watching …»

Meesun Hong Coleman

Masks mandatory. Admission only with Covid certificate (Swiss Covid certificate or EU/EFTA Digital Covid Certificate) and official ID (ID, passport, driving license). Further information here.