The House of Radio in St. Petersburg will present a multi-genre concert-performance “Dedication to Paul Celan”

The House of Radio in St. Petersburg announced a special project “Dedication to Paul Celan.”

Multi-genre concerts and performances will be held on September 16 and 17. The choir and soloists of the musicAeterna orchestra will present music based on poems by one of the most influential poets of the 20th century, the press service of the institution reports.

Music specifically for the project was written by Radio House resident composers Alexey Retinsky, Andreas Moustoukis, as well as Sergey Nevsky, Ektoras Tartanis, Vladimir Rannev, Boris Filanovsky, Teodor Currentzis and Vangelino Currentzis.

The Radio House said that special dedication projects are one of the largest formats, combining modern academic music, sound art, poetry, drama, and scenographic design.

In “Homage to Paul Celan,” composers act as the poet’s interlocutors.

“The space of their common conversation included several centuries of musical history – from references to baroque lamento arias to criticism of grand opera, from allusions to Bach’s cantatas to avant-garde techniques of extended vocals, from reliance on quasi-romantic melodicism to half-singing, half-talking,” the description says project.