Porgy & Bess,
Vienna
Elena Rykova – 101% mind uploading (2015, first
Austrian performance)
Stefan Prins – Piano Hero #1 (2011-12)Mirela Ivičevič - The F SonG (dominosa VII) (2014)
Oliver Weber – Heat Wave (2015, Wien Modern commission, world premiere)
Alessandro Baticci (flutes)
Florian Fennes (clarinets, saxophone)
Peter Mayer (electric guitar)
Alfredo Ovalles (piano)
Sofie Thorsbro Dan (violin)
Kaja Farszky (percussion)
Matthias Kranebitter (electronics)
In the beginning was Pli selon Pli: not only a modern(-ist) classic, but one of the very
greatest musical works of the twentieth century. At the end – well, not quite the
end of Wien Modern, but my final evening – came a late-night event at Porgy
& Bess jazz club. Alas, I was only able to stay until the interval; no
disrespect was intended to the three works to follow (Brigitta Muntendorf’s Public Privacy #1: Flute Cover, Matthias
Kranebitter’s Dead Girl (Requiem E),
and Alexander Schubert’s HELLO), nor
to the Black Page Orchestra. I nevertheless encountered a provocative few works
in the first half, some of which I responded to more keenly than others; new
encounters are always, however, preferable to tired exhumations from the
museum. Brahms I adore; I should travel a good distance to hear, say, Daniel
Barenboim or Bernard Haitink conduct the symphonies. Brahms in a mediocre
performance, there seemingly only to satisfy a non-discerning craving from tired
subscribers: forget it.
I listened and – often, just as
important – watched ‘blind’, knowing none of the composers’ work beforehand.
(If you wish to point out that makes me unqualified, you are probably right,
but it is perhaps less surprising than a situation in which I were to write
about Brahms without some prior acquaintance.) Elena Rykova’s 101% mind uploading, for three performers, seemed to me in some
ways to hark back to the music-theatre of the 1960s and ’70s. We had three
performers whose role was gestural, even dramatic, as much as musical. They
arrived – I could not help but think of Henze’s Der langwierige Weg in die Wohnung der Natascha Ungeheuer,
especially given its jazz group – in surgical garb and proceeded, it seemed, to
perform surgery upon the piano. Other instruments were part of the act from
time to time, but the piano remained the central focus. All manner of sounds
issued forth: almost wasp-like at one point. As a piece of theatre, I found it
initially arresting, if perhaps over-long; it struck me that it might well have
lasted for three hours, or for that matter three minutes. I am not sure how
long it lasted, but to speak of ‘musical material’ and what length it might
have justified would seem rather to be missing the point. Here as elsewhere,
though, there was no gainsaying the ability of the performers, members of the
excellent, undoubtedly radical Black Page Orchestra.
Stefan Prins’s Piano Hero #1, for midi-keyboard, live
electronics, and video followed. I shall doubtless show myself woefully out of
touch here, but it seemed to me to show an interesting musico-dramatic grasp
and communication of the ‘gamer’ at his console. It was certainly a performance
in a very strong sense, the video screen notwithstanding. Electronic look and
sounds combined convincingly and not always expectedly.
The final two works had a
little more of the jazz arena to them. (I am certainly not complaining that the
first two did not, simply noting the ‘fit’ or otherwise with surroundings and
expectations.) In the case of Mirela Ivičevič’s The F SonG (dominosa VII), the presence of a saxophone helped, but
more fundamentally, the sense of an amplified celebration as well, perhaps, as
deconstruction, of a jam session. Ensemble and electronics were intertwined in
both composition and performance to an extent that, certainly on a first
hearing, it was difficult – and probably fruitless – to try to distinguish
between them.
Oliver Weber’s Heat Wave, for bass clarinet, electronic
guitar, piano, violin, and electronics, seemed at times especially preoccupied
with certain repeated notes, often on the same instrument, sometimes not. There
were some Kraftwerk-ish electronic sounds, I thought, and my friend noticed a
quotation from Summertime. (That
might make sense, given the work title; I am afraid I missed it.) So much to
think about, and much remaining to make sense of: I hope I shall be able to
return before long to the festival. And, by the way, how lovely to go to a
concert and receive excellent table drinks service!
