Friday already

I can't believe I've been doing this nearly a week. How time flies. A mere 10 concerts remain. That means I've been to 25 concerts over the last week, and missed only two. I may miss another this afternoon, as I have an appointment with my doctor as a result of my continuing hacking cough.

Since last I wrote I've seen the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart again - this time performing 12 Madrigali by Salvatore Sciarrino. I have to admit to having very little recollection of the performance, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. As far as I can remember it was OK, but nothing special.

The second half of the Stockhausen KLANG was also good - as long as I remembered not to concentrate too hard. Much the same as the first half, except I didn't start off in a bad mood.

The final event was Bakin Zub performing Jeanne of the Dark. This promised much, and I was really enjoying some of the earlier music. I even came away humming part of it - not a common occurrence over the last week! The piece progressed through alternating ensemble pieces (entitled Vampire, Eroticism and Cannibalism) and slo-mo psychedelic videos showing a vampy woman with what appeared to be Minnie Mouse ears on. So far, so good. The final segment combined recordings of the earlier music (possibly done on the night), with additional visuals and live music. It was entitled Vamp. Erm, so far so obvious - the figure of a vamp is a combination of otherworldly sex and danger. A couple of the players then narrated over an old French silent movie Les Vampires. I found this rather entertaining, but I suspect not in the way that the creators had intended - it reminded me more of old editions of Whose Line Is It Anyway. A final flourish was added by one of the artists calling out the musicians names in the style of a really cheesy mittel european rock band. No need. It felt like 40 minutes of musical ideas squeezed into 65 minutes.