As part of the Klara Festival 2024, Ilya Gringolts successfully premiered Mirela Ivičević's Überlala. Song of Million Paths with the Brussels Philharmonic under Ilan Volkov. He then performed the twenty-minute work, a co-commission by his I&I Foundation and the Brussels Philharmonic, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
The work can now be heard again in the closing concert of the Ultraschall Berlin festival. The composer explains the origin of the title, saying that her then three-year-old daughter stated: "Mummy, when I grow up, I want to go everywhere." Everywhere is „überall“ in German, and „überlala“ in the magical language of childhood.
The sentence reminded her of Professor Balthazar and his magic machine, the hero of a Croatian cartoon series from the 1980s. "Apart from the lovely plot and animation, the cartoon featured an extremely well orchestrated, colorful, patchwork-like original soundtrack by Tomislav Simović, music that has been one of my earliest and strongest sonic influences," says the composer.
On 15 January, Ilya Gringolts will be performing at Ultraschall together with soprano Johanna Vargas for a recital on stage at Heimathafen Neukölln. Directed by Angelika Luz, the programme will feature György Kurlág's Kafka Fragments, composed in the mid-1980s.
Together with the GrauSchumacher Piano Duo and soprano Anja Petersen, the violinist will also be performing Hans Werner Henze's Ariosi, based on poems by Torquato Tasso, at Radialsystem on 16 January as part of Ultraschall.
Ultraschall Berlin
