Calendar

News

15-06-2021:

Release documentary PAST >| ORALE


As an introduction to the performance PAST >I ORALE Zefiro Torna asked film maker Mathias Ruelle to create a short documentary. Through the eyes of five characters, this film highlights a few elementary parts from which the performance originated. The music of PAST >I ORALE - a wonderful mix of Beethoven, sound art and alternative pop - resonates as a soundtrack.

> Watch the documentary here (from June 15th until July 13th)

27-05-2021:

CD release Llibre Vermell


'A summer evening in Catalonia, 1399. A group of pilgrims are sitting next to the wall of the abbey church of Montserrat. They have come in search of forgiveness, purification, a fresh start.' Zefiro Torna and Psallentes re-opened this famous "Llibre Vermell de Montserrat". You can find our intimate version of the pilgrim songs on our newest CD, out now on the label Le Bricoleur. Get your copy here, it's the ideal soundtrack for a relaxing summer evening.

11-03-2021:

BALSAM on Podium 19


Tune in to Podium 19, a new tv-channel for culture, on Sunday 21 March at 6pm for BALSAM, and let yourself be carried away by the enchanting music and images of the alchemistic concert by Zefiro Torna and Laika. Afterwards you can watch the show for another month on VRTnu.

Of course we look forward to welcome you live again into this magic laboratory. We are planning a long tour in Belgium and abroad, which we hope to start in June.

11-12-2020:

Music for the Christmas Season


Tired of yet another version of Jingle Bells or All I Want for Christmas? Maybe you'll like our 'Special Seasonal Mix' on Spotify, a selection of songs to spice up this cold December month.

Even though we celebrate Christmas a little differently this year, presents are always nice to receive and to give. Balsam's music literally works as a balm to many souls in these times, an ideal gift for under the Christmas tree. Thanks to a stock sale of the Homerecords label, you can buy the Scattered Rhymes CD with the Frank Vaganée Trio at a discount price of 5 euros. For a swinging start of 2021!

15-09-2020:

Fall 2020: Balsam and two premieres


We are all in need of cultural activities after the past months. It's something we noticed from the many moved reactions after playing Balsam at the Zomer van Antwerpen in July. The press has repeatedly called the performance "a balm for the soul." This autumn we bring you extra oxygen for the soul with the reprise of Balsam in Rotterdam and Heerlen.

On October 14, Zefiro Torna and the contemporary French Ensemble Variances will unite music from the 14th to the 21st centuries during the premiere of BACHC®AB in deSingel. And a month later we'll launch you 'im glückliche Fahrt' into a new time and space with the long-awaited premiere of PAST | ORALE: BTHVN transhumanized during the Lunalia festival. Looking forward to this special reunion!

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The Allegory of Desire

— The Song of Songs in Western and Oriental traditions (2013)

Zefiro Torna – Vocalconsort Berlin – Ghalia Benali

The Allegory of Desire is an enchanting musical performance in which Western and Arabic traditions meet around the mystical and sensual Song of Songs. What began in 2013 as a collaboration between Zefiro Torna, Vocalconsort Berlin and the Tunisian-Belgian artist Ghalia Benali has grown into an internationally acclaimed production, in which desire and beauty take centre stage.

Unison madrigals, intimate vocal duets and trios and Baroque polyphony meet traditional and contemporary Arabic love songs. Sublime works by masters such as Hildegard von Bingen, de Machaut, Dunstable, Agricola, Lassus, Grandi, Sances, Monteverdi, Schütz, Buxtehude and J.C. Bach merge with melodies based on texts of Biblical origin, Sufi poetry and contemporary voices such as that of the Egyptian poet Abdallah Ghoneem. The Allegory of Desire thus unfolds as a compelling and inspiring dialogue between sacredness and humanity, between cultures and centuries, where themes of love, spirituality and identity form a timeless soundscape.

"Between similarity and difference, suddenly a lot appeared to be vibrating. When, at the end, Lischka demonstrated her Indian singing style and together with Benali easily improvised a raga, the heart was completely sold." De Standaard - 07/10/2013

From autumn 2026, to mark the 30th anniversary of Zefiro Torna, this unique production will return for a celebratory tour at home and abroad.

Zefiro Torna

  • Cécile Kempenaers soprano
  • Annelies Van Gramberen soprano
  • Jowan Merckx recorder, percussion
  • Liam Fennelly viola da gamba
  • Jurgen De bruyn lute, theorbo


Vocalconsort Berlin

  • Claudia Böhme / Verena Gropper / Angela Postweiler soprano
  • Anne Bierwirth / Philipp Cieslewicz alto
  • Stephan Gähler tenor
  • Johannes Klügling / Masashi Tsuji tenor
  • Christoph Drescher / Simon Robinson bass

Ghalia Benali Arabic chant, compositions

Jurgen De bruyn artistic direction
Folkert Uhde dramaturgy
Jörg Bittner scenography, light design

CD