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| Opera North opens Pandora's Box | Opera North opens Pandora's Box |
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| It sounds rather grandiose to claim that you are "breathing new life into the arts in the North of England". And very un-Northern to style yourself as "England's most exciting opera company". But Opera North can perhaps be forgiven for such hyperbole when its autumn programme includes a new score by an Icelandic post-classical composer for an iconic 1920s silent film. Although widely-criticised and largely ignored on its release in 1929, Pandora's Box is today regarded as a classic of Weimar Germany's cinema. Its treatment of sexual mores was shocking in its day, not least because it depicted the raw sexuality of a young woman and included one of the first screen portrayals of a lesbian. Even in 2012, this daringly explicit film retains the power to provoke and entertain in equal measure. | It sounds rather grandiose to claim that you are "breathing new life into the arts in the North of England". And very un-Northern to style yourself as "England's most exciting opera company". But Opera North can perhaps be forgiven for such hyperbole when its autumn programme includes a new score by an Icelandic post-classical composer for an iconic 1920s silent film. Although widely-criticised and largely ignored on its release in 1929, Pandora's Box is today regarded as a classic of Weimar Germany's cinema. Its treatment of sexual mores was shocking in its day, not least because it depicted the raw sexuality of a young woman and included one of the first screen portrayals of a lesbian. Even in 2012, this daringly explicit film retains the power to provoke and entertain in equal measure. |
Charting the rise and fall of an amoral young prostitute called Lulu, Pandora's Box showcased the bewitching beauty of Louise Brooks under the auspices of director Georg Wilhelm Pabst. While modern musical accompaniments and live improvised melodies for films like this are not uncommon, particularly in London, Opera North's initiative promises to take the cinematic experience to another level. The new score for the film has been written by composer Jóhann Jóhannsson and cellist and composer Hildur Gudnadóttir (from the band Múm). They will stage it live during the film screenings together with clarinettist and graduate of the Royal Northern College of MusicDov Goldberg and experimental turntable artist Philip Jeck whose distinctive sound is created by mixing, looping and layering extracts from old vinyl records. Jóhannsson says: | Charting the rise and fall of an amoral young prostitute called Lulu, Pandora's Box showcased the bewitching beauty of Louise Brooks under the auspices of director Georg Wilhelm Pabst. While modern musical accompaniments and live improvised melodies for films like this are not uncommon, particularly in London, Opera North's initiative promises to take the cinematic experience to another level. The new score for the film has been written by composer Jóhann Jóhannsson and cellist and composer Hildur Gudnadóttir (from the band Múm). They will stage it live during the film screenings together with clarinettist and graduate of the Royal Northern College of MusicDov Goldberg and experimental turntable artist Philip Jeck whose distinctive sound is created by mixing, looping and layering extracts from old vinyl records. Jóhannsson says: |
| I've been fascinated with the film Pandora's Box since I saw it as part of a GW Pabst double feature in St. Marks Theatre in New York years ago. It sparked an interest in Louise Brooks - I became fascinated by her life and character and struck by how it sometimes paralleled that of the self-destructive Lulu. Rather than simply write a new score for silent film, our intention is to produce a piece which highlights the complexity and ambiguity of the character of Lulu. | I've been fascinated with the film Pandora's Box since I saw it as part of a GW Pabst double feature in St. Marks Theatre in New York years ago. It sparked an interest in Louise Brooks - I became fascinated by her life and character and struck by how it sometimes paralleled that of the self-destructive Lulu. Rather than simply write a new score for silent film, our intention is to produce a piece which highlights the complexity and ambiguity of the character of Lulu. |
Jo Nockels, projects manager at Opera North, adds: | Jo Nockels, projects manager at Opera North, adds: |
| We've long felt that the marriage between silent film and contemporary live music felt particularly appropriate to GW Pabst's electrifying Pandora's Box. This is partly because of the rich history of manifestations of the Lulu story across theatre, film and opera and partly because the film feels almost shockingly immediate to watch, more than 80 years after it was made. Working with Jóhann and Hildur opens an almost operatic range of musical possibilities in the creation of a new score that explores the film, its contexts and the ever-elusive figure of Lulu herself. | We've long felt that the marriage between silent film and contemporary live music felt particularly appropriate to GW Pabst's electrifying Pandora's Box. This is partly because of the rich history of manifestations of the Lulu story across theatre, film and opera and partly because the film feels almost shockingly immediate to watch, more than 80 years after it was made. Working with Jóhann and Hildur opens an almost operatic range of musical possibilities in the creation of a new score that explores the film, its contexts and the ever-elusive figure of Lulu herself. |
Pandora's Box will be performed in Manchester, Leeds, Coventry and London from tomorrow, 31 October to 3 November. It is part of Opera North Projects, an element of Opera North which brings classical and contemporary arts together in a year-round programme of performance. All details here | Pandora's Box will be performed in Manchester, Leeds, Coventry and London from tomorrow, 31 October to 3 November. It is part of Opera North Projects, an element of Opera North which brings classical and contemporary arts together in a year-round programme of performance. All details here |
| Here are a couple of clips from Opera North in advance of the screenings. The music in the first is not the new score; you get a taster of that in the second. | Here are a couple of clips from Opera North in advance of the screenings. The music in the first is not the new score; you get a taster of that in the second. |
| Both courtesy of Opera North. | Both courtesy of Opera North. |
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