African and Western classics met during her concert Ifé in the Concertgebouw, which included Philip Glass’ title piece composed on the basis of Kidjo’s poems. For this evening, Kidjo worked closely with an international group of musicians that included pianist Maki Namekawa, composer and kora player Tunde Jegede and Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Featured apart from the title piece were compositions from a wide range of composers, from the Belizean-British Errollyn Wallen to the British Benjamin Britten and the French Erik Satie. This resulted in surprising new combinations, such as a chanson from George Brassens sung by Kidjo, accompanied by Jegede on kora. Jegede’s kora playing turned out to be the discovery of the evening for many people in the audience.
With Yemandja, Kidjo made a personal musical theatre piece about the history of slavery in her country of birth Benin. The text was written by her daughter, Naïma Hebrail Kidjo, and Yemandja was her attempt at reconciling the different worlds she grew up in. She hoped she could help the audience find ‘healing and a more open heart’. After the second performance, there was a discussion led by host Dorothy Blokland with choreographer Beatrice Capote and writer Naïma Hebrail Kidjo.
