BL!NDMAN [drums], Griet De Geyter, Jill Jeschek

Very few composers have succeeded in milking the ‘soft power’ of percussion like Kaija Saariaho. On the Secrets of Water is a tribute to this sophisticated Finnish composer, who died in 2023. 

At the centre is her work Trois Rivières, played in two versions: one for one percussionist, and one for four. Saariaho is also amazing in using electronics to make her palette of timbres subtle and mysterious. 

This is even more the case, if that’s possible, for the other works on the programme, in which a flute and a soprano, respectively, meander through endless shades of sound. 

BL!NDMAN is an outstanding contemporary ensemble that treasure and propagate Saariaho’s music. Their [drums] ‘department’ is the dream team of in-house expertise, capable of revealing all the nuances in Saariaho’s sound sculptures.