Ceremonial act
Jean Rondeau – Sisyphe
Voltahalle
Voltastrasse 27, 4056 Basel
In “Sisyphe,” Jean Rondeau blends harpsichord repertoire and improvisation into a seamless whole—spanning Bach, Couperin, Ligeti, and free playing, constantly reshaped in the moment.
Jean Rondeau, harpsichord
Silouane Daâge, sound engineer
In his breathtaking solo performance *Sisyphe*, which is being presented in Basel for the first time after numerous international stops, Jean Rondeau breaks away from the traditional format of the harpsichord recital: Without a fixed sequence and without interruptions, the world-renowned harpsichordist blends repertoire and improvisation into a single musical stream.
Bach, Couperin, or Ligeti may appear just as readily as free improvisations. Rondeau follows forms that thrive on repetition and change—from the rondeau to the chaconne to the passacaglia. Familiar music emerges, transforms, disappears, and returns in a different guise. The progression arises from the moment and takes on a new form with every performance.
Sisyphe thus moves between recital and performance, interpretation and free play. Repetition becomes the starting point for change and surprise. Herein lies the connection to the festival’s theme: just as in language, repetition, variation, and new contexts continually give rise to new meanings.
Here you’ll find a trailer for Sisyphe.
Concert duration: between 60 and 75 minutes
Bar service available at the Voltahalle
Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.
Silouane Daâge, sound engineer
In his breathtaking solo performance *Sisyphe*, which is being presented in Basel for the first time after numerous international stops, Jean Rondeau breaks away from the traditional format of the harpsichord recital: Without a fixed sequence and without interruptions, the world-renowned harpsichordist blends repertoire and improvisation into a single musical stream.
Bach, Couperin, or Ligeti may appear just as readily as free improvisations. Rondeau follows forms that thrive on repetition and change—from the rondeau to the chaconne to the passacaglia. Familiar music emerges, transforms, disappears, and returns in a different guise. The progression arises from the moment and takes on a new form with every performance.
Sisyphe thus moves between recital and performance, interpretation and free play. Repetition becomes the starting point for change and surprise. Herein lies the connection to the festival’s theme: just as in language, repetition, variation, and new contexts continually give rise to new meanings.
Here you’ll find a trailer for Sisyphe.
Concert duration: between 60 and 75 minutes
Bar service available at the Voltahalle
Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.