Patricia Kopatchinskaja & Fazil Say

Welcome to the 20th Klarafestival!

Under the title We Are Now, this special anniversary edition pays tribute to the here and now. No one embraces the magic of the moment more fearlessly than festival artist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Wherever and whatever she plays, this Moldovan violinist and composer sets the stage alight. For her, every concert is a new beginning, a full moment in which anything can happen. Klarafestival 2025 paints a multifaceted portrait of Patricia Kopatchinskaja as a violinist, composer and inspiring presence.

In honour of our 20th anniversary, we are launching a new tradition: for one day, Mont des Arts will be transformed into the Muziekberg /Mont des Musiques. Alongside concerts and performances at various venues, a new ensemble will also see the light. Sound of Brussels Orchestra goes in search of the exceptional sound of our capital.

We live in challenging times, and some of the festival projects reflect on this. At the same time, they demonstrate how much hope can lurk between the notes of a Stabat Mater or a Dies Irae. How music can move and inspire us. For Patricia Kopatchinskaja, music is no abstract matter: ‘Music is there for us to do something with it. Even when it has no concrete message or function, it appeals to us. It wants to be heard. I don't believe in absolute music. Not really.'

Let the celebration begin!

Joost Fonteyne, intendant
Jan Raes, chairman
Chantal Pattyn, network manager

‘A force of nature, like a volcano, an earthquake, a tsunami – an overwhelming energy that fully embodies music’: these are the words Patricia Kopatchinskaja uses to describe her musical partner in crime, Fazil Say. Beyond energy, it is above all adventure, freedom, and playfulness that connect these two musicians. Whether tackling a repertoire piece such as the Kreutzer Sonata or a relatively obscure work like Mythes, they consistently combine technical precision with spontaneity. Their exceptional rapport is further demonstrated by the fact that each has composed a piece specifically with the other's strengths in mind.

Mythes by Karol Szymanowski, a new addition to Kopatchinskaja and Say’s repertoire, immediately captivated them with its mysterious and evocative sonic world. For Szymanowski, Mythes was one of the first works in which he fully realised his mature style. Lacking a long-standing musical tradition in his native Poland, he turned instead to the French Impressionist music of composers such as Ravel and Debussy, seeing in their work a model for his own national style. To these Impressionist influences, Szymanowski added his fascination with mythology and musical imagination, both of which are vividly present in Mythes. Each of the work’s three movements offers a musical impression of a tale from Greek mythology. In the first, ‘La Fontaine d’Arethuse’, the piano seems to express the flowing water of the spring into which the nymph Arethusa was transformed to escape the river god Alpheus. In the second, ‘Narcisse’, the static piano chords create a mirror-like surface of water, above which the violin unfolds its lyrical melody. Particularly striking are the numerous double stops in the violin part, as if each note carries its own reflection. The final movement portrays the interaction between the Dryads (woodland nymphs) and the god Pan, a playful contrast between mysterious and exuberant, capricious passages. When Szymanowski has the violin imitate a pan flute, the evocation of myth becomes almost literal.

For this concert programme, Fazil Say and PatKop (the pseudonym Kopatchinskaja uses as a composer) each present one of their own compositions. Say’s Lost Screams Sonata seeks to express the crises and anxieties faced by contemporary artists. This is conveyed through raw melodies that sound like inner screams. In the rhythmic propulsion and stark contrasts of Say’s music, one recognises the energetic, physical performance style that Kopatchinskaja so admires in him. In UniSolo, PatKop explores a middle ground between solo and duet: while the violin often takes the lead, the piano’s commentary and impulses are indispensable. In the slow first movement, both instruments circle around the note A, each seeming to follow its own path yet repeatedly converging at unexpected moments. The second movement expresses a sense of suspension, devoid of rhythmic pulse. A ghostly motif, appearing to hover between the two instruments, forms the thread running through this section. The third and final movement embodies PatKop’s vision of the concert stage as a playground. It is driven by playful elements, including long glissandi and extreme vibrato on the violin, along with tone clusters and Morse code-like signals on the piano. A surprising detail: when Say and PatKop exchanged their new works, they discovered they were so attuned to each other that the endings of their compositions bore remarkable similarities.

With the Kreutzer Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, Say and Kopatchinskaja return to the origins of their collaboration. This ninth violin sonata by Beethoven takes its name from the French violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer. However, Kreutzer never performed the work; Beethoven had originally dedicated the sonata to George Bridgetower, but after an argument following the premiere, he replaced Bridgetower’s name with Kreutzer’s. This all-too-human anecdote has never overshadowed the qualities of the piece itself: today, this monumental sonata is considered part of the core repertoire for violin and piano. Like other works from Beethoven’s middle period, the grand scale of the Kreutzer Sonata reflects a symphonic ambition, despite its modest instrumentation. Also characteristic of this period in Beethoven’s oeuvre are the contrasts of character within the first movement. While the expressive and tempestuous main theme recalls the Beethoven of the Third and Fifth symphonies, the slow introduction and intimate secondary theme bring to mind the composer of contemplative works such as the Moonlight Sonata. A similar contrast is evident between the second movement, a carefree set of variations on a charming theme, and the exuberant final movement, composed in the style of the rapid tarantella dance.

Robbe Beheydt 

Translation: Catherine Grady 

Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Moldovan violinist and composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja is known for her innovative concert programmes, often with a theatrical element. Her experimental spirit is expressed in original approaches to the traditional repertoire and a love of 20th and 21st century music. This has led to collaborations with contemporary composers such as Luca Francesconi, Michael Hersch and György Kurtág. Kopatchinskaja was previously artist in residence with, among others, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France and at the Barbican Centre London. She has made more than 30 CD recordings, including the album Death and the Maiden with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, which won a Grammy in 2018.

Fazil Say

The Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say made his international breakthrough in 1994 when he won the Young Concert Artists International Audition in New York. Since then, he has played almost everywhere in the world and has been artist in residence at concert halls such as the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Konzerthaus Berlin, Wiener Konzerthaus and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. As a composer he has written six symphonies, two oratorios, several concertos and numerous works for piano or chamber ensemble. He forms a permanent chamber music duo together with Patricia Kopatchinskaja, for whom he also wrote his Violin Concerto. His numerous CD recordings have won prizes including three ECHO Klassik awards.

guided concert

20:00 Conversation with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Fazil Say, moderated by Katherina Lindekens (in English) — Henry Le Boeuf Hall