Elina Duni & Rob Luft Quartet + Zsófia Boros solo

On his 80th birthday in July of this year, much has been written about Manfred Eicher's gifts - his ability to open up worlds of sound; his closeness to artists and his loyalty to them; his daring, fueled by the search for beauty and relevance. What must not be forgotten when celebrating the ECM founder: his never-ending curiosity, which is expressed, among other things, in the fact that he keeps discovering young musicians. The closing concert is also dedicated to this curiosity of the producer-magician. The brilliant guitarist Zsófia Boros, born in Prague, brings her new album "El último aliento", on which she juxtaposes compositions from Argentina with pieces by the French composer Mathias Duplessy. In its clarity and conciseness, sensuality and depth, Boros' third ECM recording is a revelation. When a piece takes hold of her, she wants to reflect it, she wants to become a mirror, she once said. She has that in common with Eicher. He also brought the Albanian-born singer Elina Duni to ECM. On "A Time To Remember" she interprets folk pieces, standards and her own in a fascinatingly multifaceted way. With Rob Luft (g), Matthieu Michel (flh) and Fred Thomas (dr, p) there are no backing musicians behind her, but congenial-creative players beside her. Her voice was described as clear and fine-nerved, hitting the heart. That's what one wishes for the end after five festival weeks!