Three Tales at Science Museum IMAX |
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Apr 22 2015
Star rating:
Reich and Korot's video opera, in an IMAX at the Science Museum
Three Tales (1998-2002) is one of Steve Reich's video operas created with the video artist Beryl Korot (the two are married). In form Three Tales echoes their first essay in the genre The Cave (1990-93). Three Tales made a reappearance in London at the hands of Ensemble BPM at the Science Museum's IMAX Cinema on 22 April 2015. The venue and the date are significant. 22 April is the centenary of the first use of nerve gas in World War One, a date which marks the commencement of our fascination with weapons of mass destruction and the subject of a conference whose delegates attended the performance of Three Tales.
Three Tales |
Three Tales takes three episodes in 20th century history chosen as key moments, examining man's relationship to technology. The first, the Hindenberg Disaster, when the German passenger airship crashed in 1937 killing 36. The first disaster to be captured on cinema newsreels. The second, the bombing of Bikini atoll, as part of the USA's atomic tests in 1946-1958. The third, the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep which led to a greater consideration of man's relationship to technology.
Beryl Korot's video uses archive footage and interviews, intercut and re-purposed; though there is a documentary narrative element, this is combined with a thoroughgoing artistic viewpoint. The sound-track combines found sound, original sound-track and Steve Reich's music. Much of the music originated in Steve Reich's technique of shadowing the vocal inflections exactly, mimicking the person's intonations. All this combined with live musicians via a click track. Playing live Ensemble BPM consisted of two pianos, two vibraphones, two drum kits, the Ligeti String Quartet and Synergy Vocals. Laid out in front of us, they looked remarkably factory-like, a machine for creating music. All of course were miked.
Gillean Denny's designs consisted mainly of items dotted around the playing area evoking the three different tales, and a greater visual effect came from Stuart Webb's dramatic lighting which made the most of the theatrical impact of a non-theatrical (and rather blandly neutral) space.
Three Tales |
For the first two tales the overall combination was a fascinating mix of sound and visuals, merging into a single whole but for the last one with its extensive use of talking heads I found that I started to pay greater attention to what was being said. During the long, and thoughtful discussions about the morality and more of cloning, Steve Reich and Beryl Korot seemed to balance points of view. But though the pronouncements of Richard Dawkins were nicely contrasted to the wonderfully poetic musings of a Rabbi, I felt there was a little to much of the rather dogmatic Dawkins in the mix.
Ensemble BPM first performed the work in 2010 (the first UK performance since the work's UK premiere in 2002) and took it to Tete a Tete: The Opera Festival in 2010. Nick Sutcliffe and his performers showed admirable control and poise throughout the proceedings, creating some magical musical textures from their machine for making music.
Elsewhere on this blog:
- Practising what she preaches: Nelly Miicioiu - concert review
- Rock and roll Vivaldi: Avi Avital - CD review
- Chamber music of Howard Blake - concert review
- Early and exotic: Debussy songs from Gillian Keith - CD review
- Back after 250 years: JC Bach's Adriano in Siria - opera review
- Well worth knowing: April Fredrick in lesser known songs by John Ireland - CD review
- Estonian/Polish collaboration: Estonian Music Days - day two - concert review
- Introducing a vibrant music scene: Estonian Music Days - day one - concert review
- Expanding the repertoire: Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and their encore project - interview
- Out of the parlour: Ben Johnson and James Baillieu - concert review
- Making music work: ISM Conference report
- Wild man of Hackney: ETO in rare Donizetti - Opera review
- Comic delight: The Dragon of Wantley - opera review
- Remarkable recapturing of the original: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto from irill Gerstein - CD review
- Home
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