Belgian National Orchestra, Aadland & Gatto

In Distant Light, Pēteris Vasks writes music as an act of fragile faith. For solo violin and strings, a slowly unfolding space emerges, one in which hope becomes tangible without offering certainty. Lorenzo Gatto sustains this stillness with a tone that captures shimmering light while holding onto tension.

In stark contrast stands Dmitri Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony: an uncompromising confrontation with power, fear and inner rage. Under the baton of Eivind Aadland, the evening becomes an intense journey between fragility and resistance. Music as a moral compass: sharp, searching and profoundly human.

After creating opera productions as original as they are bold — such as The Nose by Shostakovich — William Kentridge returns to the world of this composer with a 50-minute film conceived as a dynamic visual counterpart to the Symphony No. 10. Through a mix of collage, performance, and a highly distinctive visual style, the film looks back at the decades from the 1920s to the 1950s, seen from the perspective of 1953, the year of Stalin’s death and the symphony’s premiere. William Kentridge is Bozar's Grand Invité this season.

Enhance your experience beyond the concert with an introduction! The introduction starts at 7 pm and is free upon presentation of your concert ticket.