This year's first concert by the Brno Contemporary Orchestra from the Auscultation series was entitled Gastro (Cuisine), or Dinner for Magdalena Dobromila Rettig (1785-1845). On Sunday, 2 February, the orchestra performed two compositions, or rather performances and happenings by Ondřej Adámek (*1979), who also conducted the pieces, in the dining room of the Masaryk Student House. This was a fairly unusual situation for the audience, when conductor Pavel Šnajdr did not take his place at the head of the orchestra.
The programme opened with a staged performance of Le Dînner. The stage looked very different from usual. In the centre there was a large table with a white tablecloth and chairs on three sides. To the left and right side of the stage were the instruments and stands. At the back was a large screen, which showed projections during the performance, as well as a painting by Charlotte Guibé, who also gave a recital during the composition and was the first to appear, when she began to "dust" the table. This engaged the ears as well as the eyes. The twelve musicians and the conductor came to the table one by one, dressed in black trousers and different coloured shirts, as opposed to the all-black outfits we're used to seeing at BCO concerts. Gubié was dressed in white. The darkened stage gradually began to brighten up as the musicians switched on the lamps on the tables. Besides being a nice visual effect, the musicians did of course need to see the sheet music, as all the sounds were carefully written in the score.
In addition to playing their usual instruments, the musicians also created tones and textured noises using spoons, by running their fingers around the edge of glasses, pouring liquids, spinning plastic tubes or clinking their cups. The performance was made even more dynamic by the musicians switching places: during the composition they moved to the edges of the stage and back to the table. Guibé created a beautiful large-scale painting during the piece. All these aspects meant that the audience had not a second to breathe, which in this case is meant as entirely a good thing. The fusion of perfectly played, colourful and often enchanting music with the recital, painting and a superbly lit space was a feast for the ears as well as the eyes. It's worth mentioning that the composition, although it may not have seemed so, called for absolute concentration on the part of the performers, who didn't waiver for a moment throughout the performance.
The second half was opened by Ondřej Adámek, who first mentioned the anniversary of Magdalena Dobromila Rettig. He then taught the audience a phrase for them to join in with the musicians at the end of Happening: Musical and Rhythmic Cooking. It consisted of two parts. First: a complimentary Mmmmmmm, expressing satisfaction with the food. The second was a short sentence: Bring it to the table straight away! That's straight from one of Rettig's recipes. With this part, Adámek conducted the audience and asked that both phrases be spoken poco and poco crescendo. At the end, Adámek joked that originally the Brno Philharmonic Choir was supposed to come for this part, but it didn't work out in the end. But he said he was just as satisfied with the audience's performance, perhaps even more so, than he would have been with the choir's. He also noted with a smile that he suspected it wasn't just any ordinary audience there that evening.
Happening: Musical and Rhythmic Cooking was, unlike Dinner, a composition created without a score. None of the musicians here played instruments in the traditional sense either, and all of them, again seated around the table, created sounds with their voices, ingredients and utensils. These sounds were based on the recipe itself, so the audience heard vegetables being grated and sliced, the grinding of the pepper mill, the clinking of dishes, or quotes from the recipe. At the very end, Ondřej Adámek showed the audience that they should start quietly with the phrase Mmmm, bring it to the table straight away! As the music gradually got louder, Charlotte Guibé came back on stage and mixed the ingredients prepared by the musicians, resulting in a dish the audience had the chance to taste after the concert.
The only thing that can be faulted about this original concert was that the audience was unable to clearly see what was happening on the table. However, finding or creating a space where everyone can see the table is a pretty unrealistic prospect. While the first half was mixed well, some of the sounds in the second half were unpleasantly loud (at least for those sitting close to the speakers). These are just minor quibbles and Gastro as served up by the BCO was a successful and also highly unique experience that combined sound, visuals and, for those who tasted the food after the concert, cuisine.
Ondřej Adámek: Le Dînner, a staged performance with text and video for 12 musicians at a table, a painter and a conductor
Ondřej Adámek: Happening - Music and Rhythmic Cooking
Charlotte Guibé - painting and recital
Aleš Lenomar - lights
Filip Dobrocký, Edgar Mojdl - audiovisuals
Jiří Klement, Lukáš Lukáš - sound
Brno Contemporary Orchestra
Ondřej Adámek - conductor
Sunday, 2 February, 7 p.m., Masaryk Student House dining room
No comment added yet..