What's on this week: 29 January

Ennio Morricone is an example of that rare artist who found critical and commercial success early and never lost them. The Italian soundtrack composer of some of the most iconic scores in cinematic history – including The Untouchables, Once Upon a Time in America, Footloose and Days of Heaven – has won almost every award under the sun, from Grammys to Golden Globes to BAFTAS. Despite many nominations, the Oscars have always eluded him, though he received an honorary Oscar for his body of work in 2007. More importantly, Morricone has been cited as an influence by artists from every genre of popular music. The maestro’s current concert tour celebrates a career spanning a half-century, which has yielded more than 500 soundtracks. He is accompanied on stage by an army of musicians and choir singers 200 strong.
11 April, 20.30 │ Paleis 12, Brussels
www.paleis12.com

The best-remembered of rock’s flautists is Jethro Tull’s theatrical frontman Ian Anderson, but an arguably better example was the fledgling Genesis’ even more theatrical frontman Peter Gabriel. Perhaps because it represents the antithesis of loud and proud rock’n’roll values, the flute identifies the rock group that isn’t really a rock group but rather a crypto-performance art troupe. Antwerp quartet the Valerie Solanas, led by singer/flautist Michaël Brijs, is one of these. The band’s “psychotheatrical production” Beat the Hippos: A Tribute to the Beat Generation blends music, spoken word and theatre. Musical inspirations range from yesterday’s Beat poets and jazz musicians to today’s punk rock.
7 February, 20.30 │ De Studio, Antwerp
www.destudio.com

Ghent’s contemporary arts museum relates the history of painting in a single exhibition. It turns out one of the world’s oldest known art forms (see the famous cave paintings in Lascaux, France) is also one of the most modern, having undergone radical transformations in the past 150 years. Each of RE: Painted’s seven themed galleries highlights one aspect of the painter’s practice and how it has contributed to the tectonic shift from traditional to contemporary art, from an art of verisimilitude to an art of suggestion and experimentation. The works are plucked from SMAK’s own collection. Karel Appel, Francis Bacon, Michaël Borremans and Marlene Dumas are some of the artists on show.
Until 27 April │ SMAK, Ghent
www.smak.be

Daverend/Unplugged: Bruges celebrates local talent with this free, year-long concert series. The first features two hard-driving rock groups: Them Chemicals and Calling Susan
7 FEB 20.30 at Daverlo, Dries 2
www.brugge.be

Jef Neve: Recently returned from a solo tour of Australia, the contemporary Flemish jazz pianist re-joins his octet to perform pieces from the new album Sons of the New World
6 FEB 20.30 at Westrand, Kamerijklaan 46
www.westrand.be

Hans was Heiri: Contemporary Swiss theatre duo Zimmermann & de Perrot stage their latest production, a smart blend of circus, dance, theatre and music
30 JAN to 2 FEB at KVS, Lakensestraat 146
www.kvs.be

Nautilus – Navigating Greece: This exhibition, exploring the Greeks’ long and formative history with the Mediterranean, is the centrepiece of the cultural programme surrounding the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Includes ancient artefacts as well as contemporary works
Until 27 APR at Bozar, Ravensteinstraat 23
www.bozar.be

De eeuw van Brussel: Marc Didden talks to fellow journalist Eric Min about the latter’s new book, De eeuw van Brussel, a history of the capital between 1850 and 1914 (in Dutch)
6 FEB 12.30 at Muntpunt, Munt 6
www.muntpunt.be

Queen of the Night: This family-friendly adaptation of Mozart’s Magic Flute stars vocalist Greetje Bijma and the Flanders Opera Children’s Choir (ages eight and up)
31 JAN & 1 FEB at Flanders Opera, Schouwburgstraat 3
www.vlaamseopera.be