Highlights
Afriquatuors
Afriquatuors is the very first work (or almost) of African chamber music. Beware, it is not about falling asleep, but of (re)sounding the mythical era of the great orchestras of 1965/1975, when Afrobeat, highlife and electric rumba were invented.
By entrusting two string and wind quartets with the audacious mission of sublimating the groove of these dance musics, it is also a question of giving to hear the universality of these traditional African musics, beyond the continents. The guitars of the past become pizzicatos, the vocal coos become clarinet melodies, the drums of the smoky ports of the gold coast become cello cases. Between Paris and Brazzaville, Berlin and Lagos, Afriquatuors is an invitation to enter, more than a room, a pan-African ballroom, where one would be allowed to climb on the tables.
Afriquatuors was born under the artistic direction of Christophe Cagnolari, for the 30th anniversary of Africolor in 2019. This year, the family is reformed around its original figures and will also welcome new voices such as the singer of Cameroonian origin Valerie Belinga, the Guinean star Sékouba Bambino and the king of the Congolese rumba Sam Mangwana.
Genre: Global Music
Director: Julien Borel & Vladimir Cagnolari
Duration: 52′
Format: HD
Nordic Swans with Kristjan Järvi
The ‘Nordic Swans’, performed in Poland in a unique venue and entirely from memory, features swan-inspired music by Arvo Pärt (Swansong), Sibelius (The Swan of Tuonela) and Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake, newly arranged by Kristjan Järvi as a Dramatic Symphony). Another bird shares the spotlight with Kristjan Järvi, as the performance opens with the world premiere of Child of the Nightingale, a new piece written by Kristjan Järvi and Ukrainian musician Ruslan Trochynskyi, from the folk band Svjata Vatra. The nightingale is the national bird of Ukraine and is often invoked in Ukrainian folklore and folksong as a harbinger of spring and a singer of sweet sounds. Trochynskyi joins Kristjan Järvi on stage in Gdańsk to perform their creation with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic.
Program:
Baltic Sea Philharmonic & Kristjan Järvi
Special Guest Ruslan Trochynskyi
Kristjan Järvi / Ruslan Trochynskyi
Child of the Nightingale (world premiere)
Arvo Pärt
Swansong
Jean Sibelius
The Swan of Tuonela
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake. Dramatic Symphony arranged by Kristjan Järvi
Encore
Liis Jürgens
The Dream of Tabu-tabu
Genre: Classical
Duration: 120′
Format: HD
Tigran Hamasyan Trio – StandArt
In production, upcoming in July 2022.
Tigran Hamasyan, a genius pianist and composer of Armenian origin, has become a musical reference beyond the jazz sphere.
The musician breaks down the boundaries of jazz to offer music that belongs only to him. Vibrant, volcanic music, impregnated with rock, metal and Armenian folklore, in which polyrhythms alternate with calmer, poetic, ethereal phases, like a sound and cinematic wave in perpetual mutation.
At 35 years old, after having explored Armenian music, Tigran Hamasyan explores jazz standards. His album StandArt, highlights the jazz repertoire from the 1920s to the 1950s with compositions by Richard Rodgers, Charlie Parker and Jerome Kern. Accompanied by Justin Brown and Matt Brewer, the trio offers us a “Tigran version” of the American music classics: dazzling, complex rhythms, rock accents and high harmony.
Combined with an original and elaborate scenography, mixing projection and jazz club atmosphere, in order to intertwine the universe of the artists and the jazz clubs codes.
Genre: Jazz
Director: Colin Laurent
Duration: 70′
Format: HD
Cante Jondo, Granada 1922
IN PRODUCTION, AVAILABLE FOR COPRODUCTION AND PREBUY
Granada, 1922. Manuel de Falla dreams every night about the ancestral songs that his nanny sang to him as a child… The composer is worried about the disappearance of the authentic flamenco and primitive Andalusian songs to become commercial. In agreement with two other enthusiasts, Federico García Lorca and Miguel Cerón, they decide to devise a rescue plan that will reach the whole world. It is when the first Concurso de Cante Jondo was born.
The idea is supported by artists from all over Europe, but at the same time finds obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable, such as the lack of funds, the threat of an imminent strike and the ruthless opposition of some very influential local journalists, who disparage the initiative as “Spanishness”. In spite of all this, the contest is held in the Alhambra with artists coming from all over Andalusia. A huge success from the critics and the audience. Falla and his friends can finally be proud, flamenco will be from then on an undisputed cultural heritage.
Genre: Documentary
Director: José Sanchez Montes
Duration: 52′ or 90′
Format: HD
Shai Maestro Quartet – Human
Shai Maestro is one of the most influential pianists of his generation. At the age of 18, he left Israel, spotted by Avishai Cohen, and went to New York. There he became the pillar of the trio “Avishai Cohen, Shai Maestro, Mark Giuliana” which made jazz history with the album “Gently Disturbed”, followed by “Seven Seas” and hundreds of concerts around the world.
Since 2010, the pianist is blossoming in a trio with Ofri Nehemya (drums) and Jorge Roeder (double bass). After 3 albums, Shaï reaches at 33 years old the consecration by signing with ECM in 2018. His first album under the artistic direction of Manfred Eichert, “The Dream Thief”, is a success. He thus consolidates an unavoidable status of composer and pianist of jazz of world dimension.
Genre: Jazz
Director: Nathan Benisty
Duration: 63′
Format: HD
Pete Doherty & Frédéric Lo Live at Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione
English rocker Peter Doherty is back with French songwriter Frederic Lo for a majestic and refreshing collaboration!
After The Libertines, The Babyshambles and Puta Madres, English rocker Peter Doherty has teamed up with French songwriter Frederic Lo to record an album entitled “The Fantasy Life Of Poetry & Crime”. In this open-hearted project that breathes redemption, the elegance of Lo’s music blends with the poetry of the lyrics and Doherty’s delicate voice. A sparkling alchemy to discover live !
Genre: Folk
Director: Gautier & Leduc
Duration: 69′
Format: HD