NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Carlos Miguel Prieto

Almost as if she had the Elbphilharmonie in mind as a possible performance venue, the NDR composer in residence Unsuk Chin has dedicated one of her works to the water spirits, or sirens to be more precise. The mythical femmes fatales are a byword for (acoustic) temptation. But how does their song actually sound? To find the answer, the South Korean composer consulted Odysseus, who had himself tied to a ship’s mast so that he could listen to the sirens in safety. Chin captures all the diverse facets of their song with fluorescent brilliance.