The figure of the devil is deeply rooted in many cultures as the adversary of the good, so it comes as no surprise that the dark seducer has often taken musical form. In Luigi Boccherini’s symphony La casa del diavolo, philanderer Don Juan is engulfed by hellfire. Antonio Vivaldi lived and worked in the era of the ‘Devil’s violinist’. And things get particularly devilish when the Sinfonieorchester Basel’s string players, with Avi Avital on the mandolin, interpret the works of Boccherini and Vivaldi and the folk dances of Sulkhan Tsintsadze and Béla Bartók – who could well have encountered the devil in the course of his folklore research in Romania. There’s a saying in local mythology: "Speak no ill of the devil, for you know not to whom you will later belong."

Enjoy classical music in a unique surrounding in the courtyard of the Museum der Kulturen; bring your picnic, a chair or a blanket - we will take care of the atmosphere and the music!