the room of remembrance

The state goal of this concert project by Klangforum Wien is »playing around with the boundaries between consciousness and amnesia […] through various states of inebriation«. Sounds promising! But it might also arouse a certain scepticism. What may this involve? Before you entrust yourself to our Austrian guests for a five-hour »symposion« inspired by antique models, a taster is in order. Not of the wine – that would be premature at lunchtime – but of the music, which is no less inebriating. Terry Riley’s half-hour ensemble piece offers a preview that is entirely representative of the whole. Riley is a pioneer of the movement that has come to be known as minimalism in American current music. His piece »the room of remembrance« sounds like a mixture of musical mandalas, romantic cantilenas and wind-up toy aesthetics. A stimulating aperitif with a complex recipe, full of resonant flavours and with a significant intoxication factor. If this is to your taste, the evening programme offers more!