Old and new. Strict form and freedom. Fantasy and logic. Harp and accordion: At first glance, it seems like a whole lot of opposites meet in this artist duo. But harpist Anna Steinkogler and Valentin Butt on the accordion see the encounter of their instruments above all as a surprising and exciting connection through which they overcome opposites and turn the familiar on its head. Bring the unheard and the unheard to life, mix different sound languages and immerse yourself in fabulous fairy-tale worlds. Let contrasts become part of the program.
This is also the case in their current, once again tongue-in-cheek homage “Scented Rushes” to Lewis Carroll, author of the famous “Alice” novels. Here they pack two impressive five-part suites into a triple bracket of works by Piazzolla and Bernard Andrés. Contrasts thus become the principle, the eponymous original composition becomes a fairy-tale-like, fragile sound structure whose buzzing and knocking noises always make you sit up and take notice. A truly wondrous journey on which the duo once again indulges in its desire to experiment: sometimes in harmony, sometimes as a pair of opposites, but always as a connection that is as surprising as it is full of tension, which elicits imagery full of astonishing colors from their seemingly contradictory instruments. They don’t want to fit into any category – and perhaps that is precisely why the duo’s name is so true: the inner contradiction as a stylistic figure. (Christoph Forsthoff/ Förderverein Wedeler Musiktage, August 24, 2024)
DUO OXYMORON | Anna Steinkogler, harp with Valentin Butt, accordion, a program with works by Maurice Ravel, Bernard Andrès and more from classical and jazz, Thursday, September 19th | 7:30 p.m., chapel at the Waldfriedhof Wedel
Tickets for all concerts as part of the Wedel Music Days are available from reservix.
