Works by Mauricio Kagel

The Prometheus Ensemble was founded by the conductor Etienne Siebens in 1993. It focuses on ensemble music from the first half of the twentieth century. Their programme regularly includes Stravinsky, Ravel, Debussy, Schoenberg, Webern and others. However, the repertoire is not restricted to this single period of musical history, but presents a well-considered mixture of classical and contemporary music: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms set alongside Jonathan Harvey, Iannis Xenakis, Galina Ustvolskaya, Heinz Holliger and György Kurtag. In addition, the Prometheus Ensemble works on projects in which several art forms are combined. One example was Mauricio Kagel’s Variété Concert - Spectacle für Artisten und Musiker, several musical theatre productions by Peter Maxwell Davies, and Kris Defoort’s successful opera The woman who walked into doors. The Prometheus Ensemble also regularly collaborates with the Collegium Vocale Ghent and Philippe Herreweghe.

In this concert, Mauricio Kagel will be conducting three of his own works. Kagel is a major figure in the music of our time, he made a not inconsiderable contribution to what is now commonly called musical theatre and is an undogmatic composer who is not averse to introducing a boisterous and provocative humour into his work. He is also active as a filmmaker, theatre-maker, philosopher and man of letters.