Balanescu Quartet
Two new works: PLAY and SECOND BREATH
Film and music
Music: Alexander Balanescu; Film: Gillian Lacey
Thursday 17 April 2008
20.00, Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN
Closest Tube station: Highbury & Islington. See map here
Doors open 19.00. Tickets: £17.50 Adv. Booking fee may apply.
Book online from www.wegottickets.com www.seetickets.com
Play (Ballets Russes on the Beach 1936/1940) is composed for rare unearthed amateur footage of members of the Ballets Russes in unguarded moments on a beach during Australian tours in 1936 and 1940. With spins and leaps in the sand, in their swimsuits, enacting film-like scenes with mock seriousness, members of the legendary dance troupe display their youthful energy to the new technology of colour film. www.nla.gov.au/balletsrusses contains resources on the Ballets Russes on their Australian trips. London Premiere.
Second Breath is a moving reflection on the life of Maurice Blik, sculptor and child survivor of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Liberated by Russian cavalry in 1945, Maurice settled in England, and has become an acclaimed sculptor. The film includes archive family photographs animated by Gemma Carrington, footage of Maurice at work and exploration of his magnificent bronzes, cut with flashbacks to the Holocaust. The music, performed live by the Balanescu Quartet, hangs delicately, soars, and disturbs. See www.secondbreath.co.uk for background to the work. Maurice Blik will be present at the performance to take questions.
The programme also features music from the quartet’s repertoire.
To listen to a track by the Balanescu Quartet click here (the first track)
Listen to a podcast interview with Alexander Balanescu broadcast last week on Life FM click here
The Balanescu Quartet is a groundbreaking string quartet with four releases on the Mute label, including Possessed, an album of transcriptions of songs by Kraftwerk, and Maria T, Alexander Balanescu’s personal homage to Maria Tanase, one of the greatest Romanian singers.
Alexander Balanescu (violin) was born in Romania in 1950, as the son of a University lecturer who moved his family to Israel in 1969 to escape the oppressive regime of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. As a result, Alexander lived a globe trotting life, studying the violin in London and at the Julliard school in New York before returning to the UK, where he joined the Arditti Quartet.
In 1987, Alexander Balanescu left the Arditti Quartet to form his own Balanescu Quartet, which has gone on to acquire a reputation as one of the world’s leading contemporary music groups. Collaborators have included Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Ornette Coleman, Peter Greenaway, David Byrne, the Pet Shop Boys, Spiritualized, Kate Bush and Kraftwerk. More details on www.balanescu.com
PRESS ENQUIRIES: Sebastian Merrick, Kazum! sm@kazum.co.uk - www.kazum.co.uk - 07966 452557
