the sound regained /
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A concert similar to a theatre play.
A theatre performance that is also a concert.
A monodrama.
A solo recital.
A cellist’s performance.
A dialogue between a musician and a visual artist.
So many words, but none fully reflecting the essence of „The Sound Regained”. Inspired by the collaboration with Krzysztof Warlikowski’s theatre, Michał Pepol, decided to expand and modernize the classical concert format. He introduces unusual techniques to the audience (abandoning the bow for tapping and other manual techniques, electronics, using glass vases as resonant boxes among others), triggering the imagination, but most of all introducing the story of his intimate relationship with the cello, giving the audience a chance to experience their own stories. „The Sound Regained” is a sincere credo of the artist, a modern confession of faith in the power of music.
„Sound Regained” is a paraphrase of “Time Regained,” the last volume of Marcel Proust’s monumental masterpiece “In Search of Lost Time”. The narrator of the novel, comprehending the power of art, starts to believe in his own work. My concert is some sort of an attempt to believe in my own strength and purpose of this solo project. Furthermore, on a more literal level, I will attempt to find sound on various levels: by touching or rubbing the cello, but also looking for a vibration and an interference away from it, by playing classical phrases, using movie-like imagery and intently listening to electronic music or even to a recording of atonal singing of a New Zealand bird. To finally arrive at regaining my own voice.
Inspired by my adventure with the theater, I felt the need to prepare a concert that would be a collection of various musical pieces, but at the same time a coherent story that would also be a spectacle – inhabited by varied characters, greatly different ones, yet still telling the same story. Trusting the music I have chosen is fully autonomous and does not need support from visual aid, I realized that visual elements could become a part of the performance and that they would lead in the audience in-between musical pieces. That is why I decided to invite Bownik, a visual artist and an audiophile. To sustain a coherent approach, we have translated the relation between a musician and a musical piece into visual arts: just as I interpret selected works of other composers, Bownik will attempt to reinterpret works of others.
I am going to begin the recital with creating a relation with the cello by a gesture and touch in Wojtek Blecharz’s “The Map of Tenderness” which will be reinterpreted, and by that, it will cease to be a record of loss and it will be reinvented into affirmation of rebirth. In Alvind Lucier’s “Music for Cello and One or More Amplified Vases” a primal sound will make an appearance – it is more a performance than a classically understood piece. Then “Modus”- a vibrating and honest to the bone and voice of Tomasz Sikorski. Followed by Arvo Pärt’s well-known “Spiegel im Spiegel” will be a movie-like moment of the evening, where Paweł Mykietyn’s “A Page from an Album” – will be the most theatrical and dramatic one, with the voice of Sara Bernhard reciting Fedra. Later on, the most intimate confession will take place with Kate Bush’s “Among Angels” in my own arrangement. Whereas the last piece, George Brecht’s “Polishing” will become an anti-finale”.
Michał Pepol
Program:
Wojciech Blecharz – The Map of Tenderness
Alvin Lucier – Music for Cello with One or More Amplified Vases
Tomasz Sikorski – Modus
Arvo Pärt – Spiegel im Spiegel
Paweł Mykietyn – Kartka z albumu
Kate Bush (arr. Michał Pepol) – Among Angels
George Brecht – Solo for Cello – Polishing
Trailer: YouTube
