So, I did say last time that this post should really have come first, but never mind ( - quite apart from anything else, it feels rather delightfully Braxtonesque to be doing these things out of order - and it's only appropriate in this instance, as will become clear).
McClintic Sphere - who does tend to keep a closer eye on such developments than I do - tipped me off about these two events in the middle of January, but what with one thing and another, it's taken me until now to get round to documenting them here...
The first event has definitely already taken place, over two nights in November last year. The Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Ilan Volkov, joined forces with a sextet representing Ictus (including the blog's "new best friend" Kobe Van Cauwenberghe* and keyboardist Jean-Luc Plouvier, as seen here) on 16th and 17th November to present an ambitious programme including a piece which they appear to have entitled simply "Creative Orchestra", based around readings of B's Comps. 151 and 147. Sharp-eyed readers will note that these were the two works presented on the hatART CD 2 Compositions (Ensemble) 1989/1991, released in 1992; mind, in that instance the two works were recorded by very different orchestras in different venues and in different years, whilst last year's Belgian extravaganza incorporated material from both scores - and more: the Ictus website (as linked in the first line of this para) only details those two works, but this teaser trailer suggests that Comp. 63 was also represented. The very brief - but rather mouth-watering - video clip in fact suggests that even still yet further materials may have been involved; KVC was apparently present in the capacity of second conductor, besides (presumably) playing the guitar at some point**, or at least he was when this footage was shot, in Bruges on the first night (16th). Confusingly, the audio track heard on the video appears to have been recorded on the second night, in Antwerp.
The website also includes a brilliant excerpt from (what I presume are) B's composition notes for 151, explained as a high-speed car chase, with two police officers pursuing two fleeing felons into and around the territory which represents the structure of the composition itself. I have never seen this written text before, and can only hope that when I eventually get a physical copy of the 1992 hat CD mentioned above, the full text will be in the liners. (The published Composition Notes vols. A-E do not go anywhere near this far.) In the meantime, it's well worth checking out the programme's Ictus page.
The concerts, then, have already happened. However, the fact that this "teaser" was uploaded to Youtube in mid-December rather implies that something longer and more substantial will be made available at some point...
The second event is pretty similar, being a trailer - or series of trailers - relating to something which already happened, the difference being that in this case, there definitely is a major release forthcoming: the trailers are teasing that, rather than the original event. The first clip was shot in Prague, on 1st August 2023, on the occasion of the world premiere of the five-hour operatic marathon Trillium X. Clips two and three were shot in Darmstadt during B's residency there from 3rd-5th August. Roland Dahinden (him again!***) is conducting. The footage would seem to be part of the "making of Trillium X" documentary, which is intended to be part of PMP's future release of the opera itself, on eight CDs - and a Blu-ray. Yes, so - this project (unlike the Belgian one) was very much carried out with the maestro present, and by the looks of the blurb which accompanies these videos, was extremely well received. One critic described the premiere as "the cultural event of 2023" (which is certainly not something we would be likely to hear from a British or American publication, alas). But although the event was of course recorded and the documentary has (presumably) already been made, the actual physical release requires further funding - at time of writing they are only 12% of the way towards their crowd-funding goal. It's not clear what will become of this undertaking if that goal is not reached; I shall be genuinely fascinated to see whether they get there. Given that PMP releases generally don't seem to be properly distributed outside the Czech Republic, and that the prospective audience for this stuff is still pretty rarefied, I'd say it's touch and go whether or not they achieve their target. Good luck to them. You never know, this may finally make an opera convert out of me ;-)
***
I had intended to flag up something else I mentioned in passing (in a footnote) last time out, namely the fact that French guitarist and composer Noël Akchoté has been very busy issuing a ton of music on his own digital label, including a ludicrous amount of Braxton. But the above took longer than expected to write, and besides, I haven't actually found time to listen to any of this stuff yet. I'm not even sure how one would go about it (besides, you know, buying it from his website, something which my budget wouldn't really permit) - although given that I found out about this accidentally, on Youtube, I would guess that a fair amount of it is available on there. So much..! Dare I say it, this stuff is really beginning to catch on... whether or not the human race will survive to manifest this promised flourishing of possibilities is, I fear, very much up for debate...
* I have never been in contact with Kobe at all, you understand - I just seem to be writing about him rather a lot. He has rather successfully established himself as a specialist Doctor Braxtoniensis, as one might say, and his expertise is apparently sought almost as keenly as that of Herr Dahinden...
** The credits given on the Ictus site are for the entire concert, rather than for the Braxton piece specifically. It is possible, therefore, that KVC was present on the latter only as a specialist co-conductor. Or something. (All will perhaps become clear, at some point.)
*** This is someone else I seem to keep tripping over. As laid out in the main post, the biggest difference between the Swiss and the Belgian is that the former has "direct lineage" to B., having not only played with him, toured and studied under him, but (apparently) acted as his assistant at Wesleyan for several years. KVC has not done any of this - but it seems undeniable that he has built up a real understanding of the music and its associated systems, and as one of the photos seen here would imply, his endeavours do have the maestro's blessing. (And why would they not?)
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