Experience the full force of the string orchestra as Manchester Collective revive old classics and summon futuristic sounds alongside ‘cyborg pianist’ Zubin Kanga.
Tchaikovsky said his Serenade for Strings was ‘a piece from the heart’. Beloved by the composer and audiences alike, it’s a technicolour, opulent romance. Here, it’s given a Collective twist, blurring into music that lives closer to the present day.
There’s more muscle to the brisk Concerto for String Orchestra by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz. It’s a real workout for the players. Feverishly paced, it will leave you catching your breath.
In these two works, the composers take inspiration from their heritage to create something new. But what happens when a retreat into history turns violent? It’s an auditory hallucination where Zubin conjures ghostly samples of piano construction with his keyboard: handsaws, sandpaper, drills.
Time is an illusion. Let’s dispel it.
‘Schiller’s Piano’ is commissioned by Zubin Kanga and Manchester Collective. Zubin originally co-commissioned the work as part of Cyborg Soloists, with the support of a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship and Royal Holloway, University of London. The première is supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation.
Photo credit: Raphaël Neal
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