After returning from a whirlwind tour in Europe in “Krakauer Plays Zorn” with the
Madness Orchestra, David Krakauer is back in the U.S. Looking ahead to what’s
next on his agenda, he’ll be playing with cellist Matt Haimovitz at Joe’s Pub in
New York City
Joe’s Pub with Matt Haimovitz
Akoka: The End of Time
featuring Socalled with Maria Bachmann & Geoffrey Burleson
WHERE: Joe’s Pub – 425 Lafayette Street, NYC 10003
WHEN: Saturday, January 14, 2012
TIME: 9:00 PM
TICKETS: $20 –
Clarinetist David Krakauer, praised internationally for his astounding ability
to play in a myriad of music genres with “prodigious chops” (The New Yorker) and
“soulfulness and electrifying showiness” (The New York Times), along with musical
pioneer cellist Matt Haimovitz, will present Akoka: The End of Time featuring beat
architect Socalled, with violinist Maria Bachmann and pianist Geoffrey Burleson,
at 9pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette Street, NYC).
Akoka: The End of Time comprises Krakauer’s own composition Akoka, Messiaen’s
masterwork
Quatuor pour la fin du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time), and Socalled’s astonishing
coda Meanwhile. This is the second concert of DK55, in a series of concerts in New
York celebrating Krakauer’s 55th birthday. Further concerts to be announced.
This innovative program is centered around Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time,
which was composed and premiered in a prisoner of war camp during World War II in
the midst of tremendous upheaval. Henri Akoka was the Jewish clarinetist in the
prison camp who performed the world premiere. This program has a musical focus on
Akoka’s story, bringing out the human aspect of this composition as seen from
the perspective of someone caught in terrifying events beyond his control. Quartet
for the End of Time will be performed in its entirety between two new works – an
opening piece by Krakauer called Akoka (a raw improvisation that takes as its point
of departure some of the musical gestures of the Messiaen) and a closing piece
by Socalled called Meanwhile (sequences and samples of the acoustic recording of
the Messiaen combined with sound images that illustrate the violence and turbulence
of the piece). Akoka: The End of Time lifts Messiaen’s original work out of the polite context of a chamber music concert and places it in a dramatic setting that drives home the gravity and impact of the work, while bringing it into the 21st century.