SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK CONCERT REVIEW

Out Hear – Super-Collider: Berio, Fujikura/Sakamoto, Aperghis, Lachenmann, Toop, Fujikura: Loré Lixenberg (mezzo soprano), James Widden (violin), David Toop (laptop), OKEANOS, Pascal Gallois (Bassoon), E.laine (voice), Dai Fujikura (curator), Hall Two, Kings Place, London  8.11.2010 (CR)

 

 

Luciano Berio – Sequenza XII for bassoon

Dai Fujikura/Ryuichi Sakamoto – peripheral movements (third section) (World Premiere)

Georges Aperghis – Récitations (movements 5, 8,& 12)

Helmut Lachenmann – Toccatina for violin

David Toop – Quills (to scratch a note) (World Premiere)

Dai Fujikura – OKEANOS (world premiere of complete cycle)


This was an imaginatively programmed concert with some technically polished performances from this enticing array of contemporary music players. Curated by composer Dai Fujikura, the concert included solos and duos as well as a larger ensemble work performed by the quintet OKEANOS.

The opening work was Berio’s Sequenza XII for bassoon, performed by Pascal Gallois, for whom the work was composed. Featuring slow moving glissandi and requiring circular breathing from the bassoonist, this is a virtuoso tour de force, demonstrating a range of articulations and some interesting multiphonics. Gallois performed with control and technical mastery.

The third section of Peripheral movements, a multimedia work by Dai Fujikura and Ryuichi Sakamoro, with video by Norika Sora, was given its world premiere next. Black and white layered abstract images moved gradually across the screen, alongside a pre-recorded soundtrack of piano and electronic sounds with enticing harmonies and a relaxed ambience. This was an enjoyable and successful piece which had much to offer.

For me, the highlight of the concert was Loré Lixenberg’s performance of three movements from George Aperghis’s Récitations. Lixenberg created a spell-binding atmosphere, delivering Aperghis’s music with panache and impressive vocal skill, including clear diction and striking extremes of range. Rhythmic cells are developed and juxtaposed through the use of text, creating an almost hypnotic sense of flow through each of the movements. This was a memorable performance which was highly convincing throughout.

The performance space was used to the full in this concert, with players positioned in different parts of the hall for each piece. James Widden stood in the centre of the hall for Lachenmann’s delicate Toccatina for violin, but sadly had his back to where I was sitting, so many of the intensely quiet sounds and subtleties of the work were lost. Some subtle amplification would have solved the problem, and I was disappointed not to have been able to hear the details more clearly in this otherwise enjoyable performance.

David Toop’s short work for voice and electronics, Quills (to scratch a note) received its premiere in the hands of vocalist E.laine and the composer himself. A range of electronic sounds, including some resembling shortwave radio and water, provided a backdrop over which the dark tones of E.laine’s voice soared. The music contained variety and a sense of flow, although once again the positioning of the performers (this time at the side of the hall) meant that Toop was completely obscured from my viewpoint.

The final work in the programme was the complete cycle of Dai Fujikura’s OKEANOS, performed by the ensemble of the same name. An imaginatively scored quintet for oboe, clarinet, viola, sho and koto, each movement focused on a different texture within the ensemble, linking solos, duos and trios before all the instruments were heard together thin the final movement. For me, the highlight was the combination of pizzicato viola and koto in the fourth movement, as well as the beautiful blending of oboe multiphonics with the sho in the second movement. This was an enjoyable work which was performed with conviction by OKEANOS and demonstrated Fujikura’s position as a rising star in the compositional world.

Carla Rees