Nik Bärtsch: Reflecting Bartók

The Swiss pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch is an exceptional figure in modern jazz whose hypnotic, meditative music often raises the question of how much it can still be considered to be jazz. On his latest album, Entendre, he combines elements of the most diverse and seemingly alien musical worlds in his own characteristic way. As one reviewer of the album put it: 'If we accept the Bärtsch thesis that there was once a unified musical ancestor, but that it was torn apart by various cultural developments, then we have to say that Bärtsch is working on reunification’. He does not view his new pieces as fixed, definitive compositions, but rather as frameworks, patterns that can be filled with content in a wide variety of ways. They could be compared to basic martial arts exercises that can be adapted to any situation. In this concert with Hungarian musicians in Budapest, he will approach these situations from the perspective of Bartók's music.

This concert is part of the Bartók Spring International Art Weeks organised by Müpa Budapest.