program
Caroline Shaw (*1982) Music in Common Time
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Le sacre du printemps
performers
Cappella Amsterdam
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Karina Canellakis conductor
background
Music is usually added last in a film, but at this year’s Holland Festival, it’s the other way around: two filmmakers created a film based on existing compositions, which will be performed live by Cappella Amsterdam and the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Karina Canellakis during the opening concert of the Holland Festival!
Brazilian theater-maker and filmmaker Christiane Jatahy is inspired by the composition Music In Common Time by American composer Caroline Shaw (1982), in which Cappella Amsterdam sings. During this concert, you will also hear Stravinsky’s masterpiece Le Sacre du printemps, which Greek visual artist and director Evangelia Kranioti has used as a foundation. Both filmmakers aim to provoke thought about injustices in our world with their visuals.
Jatahy, associate artist for this edition of the Holland Festival, creates a film for Music In Common Time, an overwhelming work for choir and orchestra by Caroline Shaw, using material from her vast archive, filmed for various previous projects at locations around the world. The Brazilian theater-maker and filmmaker has a unique ability to cast an empathetic eye on marginalized groups. Two years ago, she was awarded a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for her body of work and was praised as “a sharp observer of the violent cruelty of our world.”
Stravinsky also evokes social engagement. Kranioti uses the iconic Le Sacre du printemps — a monumental experience in itself due to the large orchestral arrangement—as her starting point. Kranioti’s film, a new production by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, co-produced with La Philharmonie de Paris, is a stunning symbolic reflection on the extremes of Western civilization and critiques issues such as modernity and colonialism.
