The Rite of Freedom

This unique late-night concert celebrates rebellious freedom. The incredibly imaginative piano duo Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov combine a diverse selection of works, all carrying an intense, at times even sombre, quality. The Loading Dock at the Muziekgebouw, that liminal space between the stage and the outside world, is the quintessential location for immersion in music that both moves and stimulates thought.

Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues is industrial blues with flaming factory machines and singing workers. In his devilish work Vers la flamme, Aleksandr Scriabin works towards redemption in an all-consuming fire. Beethoven originally wrote the raging Grosse Fuge as the final movement of his Thirteenth String Quartet. From beginning to end, a vital fire rages that tempts one to believe that there is a power greater than death.