La prima mondiale dell’opera Ships, del Leone d’Oro alla Carriera per la musica Brian Eno, è stata messa in scena dallo stesso Eno al Teatro La Fenice, accompagnato dalla Baltic Sea Philharmonic condotta da Kristjan Järvi, insieme all’attore Peter Serafinowicz, al chitarrista e collaboratore Leo Abrahams, e al software designer Peter Chilvers.
Quello che ne è risultato è stata un’intensa tempesta emozionale contemporaneamente ad un inabissamento nell’arte del rock: sulla nave di Eno eravamo intrattenuti con ogni tipo di possibilità in simultanea. In apertura “The Ship“, un lavoro elegiaco di ambient music intessuto con testi e riflessioni sui viaggi e sulle guerre. Una canzone senza ritmi o accordi in progressione ma semplicemente cantata sul suono ambient originato da un’installazione che Eno ha commissionato ad un’organizzazione artistica svedese, Fylkingen.
Segue “Next Fickle Sun” in tre parti, con testi che parlano della tetra vita di un soldato e del suo oscuro lavoro. Timbri di metalli e vetri fusi nel fuoco orchestrale con ottoni, corde, arpe, percussioni, chitarre elettriche, voci, computer, tastiere, nastri, tutti i tipi di effetti vocali e ambientali miscelati in un’unica texture, per navigare negli oceani infernali (o quelli solari) e sciogliersi emozionalmente nell’euforia che si prova nel dolore di un piercing: ogni fitta dura sempre più a lungo, sempre più acuta, fino a che il corpo non si dissolve, traccia dopo traccia, sempre più intensamente.
“When I was a young soldier
I turned my eyes directly to the sun
To burn off all that I had seen
To wipe away what I had to be”
[…]
“The phoenix broods, serene above the moment.
You are fighting for, I wonder what, destiny.
We waste away our hours and darken.
Beneath the velvet of a strong optimism.
Britain’s most fateful hour is spun.
Copy this point on a gong.” […]
Altre tracce sonore incluse nel programma sono “By This River“, “Making Gardens out of Silence” and “There Were Bells“.
Vestita di lustrini rock anni ’70/’80, ero avvolta nella mia piccola capsula spaziale negli opulenti interni del meraviglioso Teatro La Fenice di Venezia (‘fenice’ è anche l’uccello della mitologia). Lo show fluisce tra le maree, tra l’astrazione e la canzone, tra forma e caos, tra lenti ondeggiamenti casuali e cerchi ritmici, dissonanze, accordi luccicanti e di nuovo sorprese come “I’m set free to find another illusion“.
Brian Eno ha avuto una prolifica carriera come musicista e artista visivo. Insieme ai suoi album solisti di canzoni e brani strumentali, egli ha prodotto album che sono pietre miliari del rock con Talking Heads, U2 e David Bowie e ha collaborato con personaggi della dance-music come Karl Hyde, degli Underworld, e il produttore Jon Hopkins. Egli è anche un pioniere dell’ambient music e della video arte computerizzata come l’opera 77Million Paintings.
Ships: 2023, 75′, prima mondiale
Voce: Brian Eno
Seconda voce: Peter Serafinowicz
Parti vocali: Melanie Pappenheim
Chitarra: Leo Abrahams
Tastiere: Peter Chilvers
Baltic Sea Philarmonic
Condotta e orchestrata da: Kristjan Järvi
Produzione e commissione de: La Biennale di Venezia
In collaborazione con la Fondazione Teatro La Fenice
https://www.labiennale.org/en/music/2023/music-performances/brian-eno-ships
Cobi van Tonder
https://www.otoplasma.com/
Burning, time and mortality. The world premiere of Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement in Music winner Brian Eno‘s Ships in Teatro La Fenice, was performed by Eno himself and featuring the Baltic Sea Philharmonic conducted by Kristjan Järvi, together with actor Peter Serafinowicz, guitarist and collaborator Leo Abrahams, and software designer Peter Chilvers.
What followed was an intense emotional storm and art rock abyss at the same time – in Eno’s ship we are entertained by all kinds of simultaneous possibilities. Opening with “The Ship“, an elegiac work of ambient music meshed with lyrics, reflects on journeys and wars. A song without beats, or chord progressions but simply sung against ambient sound originated from an installation Eno did commission by Swedish arts organization, Fylkingen. Next Fickle Sun in 3 parts, with lyrics about the dismal work of a soldier’s life. A timbre of metal and glass melted in the fire, the orchestra with brass, strings, harp, percussion, electric guitar, voice, computer, keyboards, tape, all kinds of vocal effects, ambient all melted together into one texture, of sailing in hell’s oceans (or that of the sun) and getting emotionally dissolved into of the euphoria that comes with piercing pain – each stab longer, more intense, till the body dissolves, track after track more intense.
“When I was a young soldier
I turned my eyes directly to the sun
To burn off all that I had seen
To wipe away what I had to be”
[…]
“The phoenix broods, serene above the moment.
You are fighting for, I wonder what, destiny.
We waste away our hours and darken.
Beneath the velvet of a strong optimism.
Britain’s most fateful hour is spun.
Copy this point on a gong.”
[…]
Other tracks included By This River, Making Gardens out of Silence and There Were Bells.
Dressed up in 70s/80s art rock shimmer, embraced by my little stall capsules and opulent interior in the wonderful La Fenice theatre in Venice (which also means ‘phoenix’). The show ebbs and flows between abstract and song, form and chaos, slow chance swells and rhythmic loops, dissonance, glistening chords, and back again to surprises like “I’m set free to find another illusion“.
Brian Eno has had a prolific career as a musician and visual artist. Along with his own solo albums of songs and instrumentals, he has produced landmark rock albums with Talking Heads, U2 and David Bowie and collaborated with dance-music figures like Karl Hyde, from Underworld, and the producer Jon Hopkins. He is also a pioneer of ambient music and of computerized video art like 77Million Paintings.
Ships: 2023, 75′, world premiere
Voice: Brian Eno
Additional voice: Peter Serafinowicz
Vocals: Melanie Pappenheim
Guitars: Leo Abrahams
Keyboards: Peter Chilvers, Baltic Sea Philarmonic
Conducted and live orchestrated by: Kristjan Järvi
Commission, production: La Biennale di Venezia
In collaboration with: Fondazione Teatro La Fenice
https://www.labiennale.org/en/music/2023/music-performances/brian-eno-ships
Cobi van Tonder
https://www.otoplasma.com/