Stockhausen “Mittwoch Aus Licht” 2012

When Birmingham Opera Company approached me in 2011 about being involved as a soloist in another project with them I was quite interested. I had previously performed Verdi’s Otello with them and loved their entire ethos. If you’re unfamiliar with the company you can read more about them here.

When the words, “…there’s not really any plot to this opera, but it does involve a cosmic camel that shits planets…” came down the telephone at me I was immensely interested. How could I not be?

It was to be a wild ride that involved learning a new quasi-germanic language phonetically, quite a lot of yodelling, hitting the bass, dancing about, an astronaut, a mummy with a gong, a very loud Hawaiian shirt and being suspended from the ceiling of a derelict warehouse in Birmingham each night of the run with my double bass for an hour or so.

I’ve edited together a short excerpt of my solo performance below to give you a taste, but first, here’s what Birmingham Opera Company have to say about that 2012 production on their website:

“Stockhausen created seven operas in the Light cycle, one for each day of the week. We staged Wednesday. If you think that sounds like the easy option – think again! Wednesday from Light was previously thought to be unstageable, with its flying instrumentalists and string quartet in helicopters. Not to mention the camels. The opera doesn’t have a traditional plot, but four scenes plus a Greeting and a Farewell. It finally reached its world premiere in Birmingham in 2012 after two decades of failed attempts by opera houses across the world. It was selected as one of the New Yorker’s Events of the Decade.”

Alex Ross of the New Yorker said about my performance:

“What I will remember longest, though, is the sublime anarchy of “Orchestra Finalists.” The musicians dangled in ski-lift-like chairs while listeners lay on their backs. On the ground, kids scampered this way and that, paper airplanes were tossed, bewhiskered gentlemen strode about with steam issuing from their top hats. During the trombone solo—heroically executed by Andrew Connington—a children’s wading pool was pushed down the length of the hall on a wheeled platform, a boy splashing inside. When the pool arrived beneath him, Connington plunged in, glissandoing all the while. (Stockhausen doesn’t actually ask for such a thing to happen, but it seemed apt.) You’d think that Connington’s feat couldn’t be upstaged, but Jeremy Watt nearly outdid him with a manically dancing, shouting double-bass solo, at one point falling flat on his back with his instrument on top of him. This was in strict accordance with the score.”

Alex Ross, The New Yorker Sept 10, 2012 (click for full review)

Press the small dark blue play button below and left for the full video to start.