Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments
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- What you'll hear
Minimal. Complex. A lifelong obsession.
Who’s on stage
Royal Northern Sinfonia’s brilliant Artistic Partner, violinist Maria Włoszczowska, joins forces with soprano Claire Booth, who won the Royal Philharmonic Society Singer Award in 2025.
What they’re playing
György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments – 40 tiny masterpieces inspired by and using the writer Franz Kafka’s words, often heartfelt and confessional.
Need to know
Discounts: save if you’re under 17, aged 18 – 30, or a group of 10 or more people. Check the details.
Running time: 1 hour, without an interval.
Age: under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
What you'll hear
György Kurtág Kafka Fragments
Who's playing it
Claire Booth soprano
Maria Włoszczowska violin
What's happening in the music?
This music is a collection of extremes; violent and shocking one moment, lyrical and poignant the next. The texts were collected by the composer György Kurtág in the 1950’s, little snippets from Franz Kafka’s notebooks and diaries. He had no big plan in mind for them, but started to set them to music, soon becoming hooked on the process, comparing his new obsession to that of a boy greedily eating forbidden sweets. A unique musical experience.
Tickets
Saturday 31 October 2026
From: £5.00 - £26.00