HCMF 2017: Explore Ensemble, Polwechsel + John Butcher + Klaus Lang, Thomas Lehn

“In the world première of Tracer la lune d’un doigt – a piece ‘interpreting’ existing repertoire, in this case an Adagio by J. S. Bach... – Patricia Alessandrini created not so much material as a diaphanous mist shrouding material contained within; or, alternatively, it was like trying to make out the details of something blindingly bright, caught in only brief, heavily filtered glimpses. Avoiding low registers, this was music as if carried on the wind from far away, a mix of events, distortions and resonance forming an evocative and allusive soup. It was ‘eggshell music’ at its liminal best: frangible and insubstantial, and in its articulation of the Bach coming across as a celebration of what remained (though precious little), rather than yet another hackneyed statement about loss, absence and decay. One of the most beautiful things i’ve heard at HCMF this year...”

— 5against4.com