METAMORPHOSES – George Crumb

Piano & Live Video Performance

Metamorphoses is a staged multimedia production built around George Crumb’s monumental piano cycle Metamorphoses, Books I & II.

In this visionary work, Crumb translates iconic paintings into sound — from Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky to Marc Chagall and Vincent van Gogh — creating a universe of resonance, symbolism and theatrical intensity. The piano becomes an extended instrument: whispered incantations, percussive gestures, inside-the-piano techniques and amplified sonorities dissolve the traditional recital format.

Performed by Belgian pianist Veronique Vanhoucke, internationally recognized for her specialization in contemporary and extended piano techniques, the production integrates live video by Italian film director and audiovisual artist Francesco Leprino.

Leprino’s visual layer does not illustrate the music — it interacts with it. Through real-time manipulation, visual imagery and body presence become part of the dramaturgy, transforming the performance into an immersive, ritual-like experience.

Metamorphoses is not a traditional piano recital, but a total performance in which sound, image and gesture converge into a single expressive act.

Duration:  50 / 60 / 90 minutes (flexible format)
Performers:
Veronique Vanhoucke – piano
Francesco Leprino – live video

Selected performances include:
Piano City Milano (Italian Premiere)
Festival Nuovi Spazi Musicali
San Marino International Music Summer Courses
Fondazione Balestra – Musica Arte
Conservatorio Vittorio Zago (Como)