© Philharmonie Luxembourg / Alfonso Salgueiro
The sounds of space and choir are lifted to the heavens and beyond by the majestic string play of San Francisco's Kronos Quartet.
The live musical experience often swings between precise rendition and modified versions of previously recorded or performed material. In the classical music realm it is almost rigidly the former. In the ‘popular’ music realm is it is invariably the latter. What the Kronos Quartet and the Choeur de Chambre de Luxembourg achieved at the Philharmonie was an enlightening experience of both.
If you’re unfamiliar with the origins of the Kronos Quartet they are essentially a string-based, 4-piece from San Francisco which is composed of an invitation-based line-up which has evolved over the past 50 years. Their catalogue of work extends to thousands of pieces created specifically for them by everyone from avant grade composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Henruk Górecki to broader and more experimental musicians such as Frank Zappa, Clint Mansell and Dave Matthews. They have also performed live with everyone from Tom Waits to David Bowie.
Needless to say, the gravitas of the quartet (regardless of the line-up at any given time) is enough to cause fevered excitement should the opportunity to experience them live, arise.
Undertaken as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, their visit to the Philharmonie would see them undertaking a rendition of their 2019 work, ‘Sun Rings’, composed with American composer Terry Riley. The evening’s line-up consisted of David Harrington and John Sherba on violin; Hank Dutt on viola; and their most recent recruit Paul Wiancko on cello. Accompanying them were the Chœur de Chambre de Luxembourg with Antonio Grosu conducting.
With a simple setup consisting of the quartet placed centre stage and the choir just ahead of the front of stage, the most striking aspect of the stage configuration was the giant screen placed directly behind the musicians. Despite being fully aware that the evening’s set would include recorded sounds supplied by NASA, the scale of the audio visuals incorporated into the performance added a powerful dimension to the subject(s) contained within the musical compositions.
As the choir entered the hall and took their places they were greeted with much applause - no mean feat given the [approximately] 60 plus members in attendance. Soon after, our headline performers arrived to take their places, with it soon becoming apparent that not only would they be playing their pre-determined instruments but also triggering the multitude of additional recordings via motion activated sensors attached to their music stands.
What unfolded over the course of the evening was a mesmerising, ominous and sometimes imposing performance of hypnotic music, undertaken with razor sharp skill and tonality. The juxtaposition of classical instrumentation against the dissonant recordings from space and various scientific commentaries added that aforementioned extra dimension to proceedings and at no point felt contrived or out-of-place. And although the Choeur de Chambre de Luxembourg didn’t feature on all pieces, their energy and power added a physical embodiment and presence when called upon.
The hypnotic and eerie visuals which accompanied each composition featured satellites in orbit; huge solar flares escaping the sun and snapping back to the solar surface; schematics and diagrams of magnetic fields and various calculations; majestic images of Jupiter in orbit; library footage of laboratory experiments involving spinning tops and angular momentum; and vast fields of twinkling stars. Each one added a dimension and scale to proceedings which could never be appreciated on an album or even on a visual recording of the event.
Stage lighting alternated between brilliant purples and vibrant blue hues - punctuated with a field of yellow-tipped LEDs surrounding the quartet - along with specific spotlighting on the choir when it was their turn to perform. At one point the ceiling of the main hall was lit with huge rotating glyphs which encouraged the audience to look skyward as the music lifted us there. It was a lovely touch, if a little difficult on the neck.
Aside from the entrances by the performers, applause was respectfully kept to a minimum by the audience and this served to maintain the atmosphere built across the execution of each composition. However, once completed, the main hall delivered enough applause for four curtain calls - each accompanied by energetic calls of “Bravo!” from several sections of the main hall.
Only world class musicianship and the exceptional organisation by Philharmonie could have allowed this event to unfold as it did. Few could argue it was anything but a stellar performance.
Don't forget to check out Today Radio's 'In Tune' show on RTL Play for a fabulous insight into the Philharmonie's love of everything from classic Jazz to avant-garde Classical...and much more.
