The premieres of Fermata by Peter Eötvös, an ensemble piece co-commissioned by UMZE is a significant event for the ensemble, which is a member of a consortium including the Ensemble Intercontemporain of France and the Geneva-based Ensemble Contrechamps and the Musikfabrik, Cologne.
6 March 2022 – Budapest BMC, UMZE, conductor: Gregory Vajda
6 April 2022 – Geneva, Victoria Hall, Ensemble Contrechamps, conductor: Peter Eötvös
1 May 2022 – Cologne, Musikfabrik, conductor: Yorgos Ziavras
10 January 2024 – Paris, Ensemble Intercontemporain, conductor: Peter Eötvös
Fermata (2020-2021) is a concerto for 15 musicians sitting five feet apart. They present a kind of time report: from our Covid days and pandemic years, in which normal life suddenly comes to a standstill, then continues somewhat chaotically and stops again with tragic events. Centuries of increasing societal tension seem to have lit the fuse these days. The question is: how long is the string and how fast or slow will it detonate the bomb? Such thoughts tumble around in the composer’s head as he writes the notes and rather feels like the notes are writing him.
/Peter Eötvös – 2021/