The "Six Hölderlin Songs" (2020) by Chris Jarrett were composed for the 250th anniversary of the birth of the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843), but the global health crisis hindered the premiere. The composer Chris Jarrett and his singing and reciting colleague Orlando Schenk have construed a musical and poetical rendez-vous with Hölderlin which can be enjoyed in any year and on any occaision.
With "Four Free" anything can happen. These musicians are so completely at home in the world of spontaneity, that they may shift gears and change roads without warning and end up in another musical universe before the piece finds it's end.
Since then, I have continued my new and adventurous journey and have found that each new instrument leads me to new crossroads of sound and expression. No two concerts have ever been the same. The title only remains: New Journeys.
What happens if you take two worldwide working musicians with a strong creative bent, both of whom are renowned for the unusual usage of their respective instruments, and let them perform together as a duo?
This first pianistic collaboration of the couple Martina and Chris Jarrett is made up of newly-interpreted piano music by Mozart, but also of new works inspired by the mastery of the Austrian composer.
Chris Jarrett performs live to Eisenstein's classic silent movie (1925). Chris Jarrett's completely personal, partially improvised, partially composed score underlines Sergei Eisenstein's anti-militaristic message. His music is much more than an accompaniment; it is a personal comment, taking a stand for the politically oppressed and mistreated.
"John Donne" is not only an opera about the life of a genius (John Donne, English poet, 1572-1631) in a time of great societal changes - it asks questions about the results of political repression, and about the moral limits of adaptability; but also about the power of compromise and self-sacrifice.