Gaspar Claus, cello / France

Casper Clausen, vocals / Denmark

The most original performance on the festival bill is scheduled for Friday night: it is the programme produced during their residency at Cēsis Concert Hall by the French cellist Gaspar Claus and the Danish singer, frontman of the indie pop band Efterklang Casper Clausen.

There is something about Gaspar Claus and Casper Clausen’s collaboration that makes you think it was just meant to be. While Gaspar was born in France, on a hot summer’s day in 1983, and is known for his musical curiosity and openness to experimenting on his cello, Casper arrived in this world in Denmark, on a chilly winter’s night in 1982, and is mostly musically active as a member of Efterklang.

The first reason that prompted the two musicians to try working together is, of course, their names – so similar that anyone should really be forgiven for confusing the two. It was a mutual friend, the filmmaker Vincent Moon who encouraged them to launch a joint project.

Thus brought together by fate, in February 2015 Claus and Clausen went to Portugal to record their eponymous album, ‘Claus & Clausen’. The result was an extremely mysterious musical narrative, far removed from our time and rooted in no specific musical genre.

The two musicians have joined forces again, this time at Cello Cēsis Festival. The festival opening will see Gaspar and Casper present the audience with the gift of experiencing a unique musical programme, the product of a co-creative musical quest that started right here in Latvia.