Trio Khaldei, Benjamin Dieltjens

Anyone who has ever heard even one minute from the oeuvre of Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya will never forget her. 

Her utterly unique style is characterised by staggering clashes between simplicity and extremity. Although her music is often unrelenting, loud and insistent, it still manages above all to evoke a devastating sense of powerlessness, as if you are hearing the pleading voice of someone who is beyond help. 

This concert is built around two of Ustvolskaya’s chamber-music works. The triple repetition of Bartók’s Night Music before, after and between the Ustvolskaya pieces will act as a soothing refrain.

The Flemish ensemble Trio Khaldei already made an impression during several previous editions of Festival 20·21. Today, the ensemble has become a fixture of the music scene in Flanders, especially when it comes to music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Recently they released another magnificent CD of music by Debussy, Ravel and Frits Celis. 

For the Ustvolskaya Clarinet trio, Trio Khaldei is working with Benjamin Dieltjens, one of Flanders’ most gifted clarinettists.