PROJECTS AND COLLABORATIONS
The Ciné-Concert Project seeks to bring contemporary sound into the rich world of classic silent films. Here, the atmosphere and haunting images of the “film noire” era meet contemporary music techniques and electronic sounds bridging over a century of musical development. The original piano accompaniment is now replaced by a rich music score played live, giving the film a new and exciting dimension. Boundaries are pushed, sounds explored, scenes “extremed” by non-compromising perpetual sound accompaniment, giving the viewer the multiple sensation of film audience as a concert goer. The rich orchestral palette is created by two performer/composers collecting sounds through acoustic and electronic mediums, standard as well as exotic, invented and synthesized. This gives the listener a continuously simulating live music score in the making. Hence, the classic film is now transformed into a multi-sensual universe. The Ciné-Concert Project was founded by Stephen Horenstein and Lior Navok, with production by the Jerusalem Institute of Contemporary Music. The repertoire listed below was created from 2010 to 2017.
THE LODGER (1927) Alfred Hitchcock
Horenstein - Navok Duo
Stephen Horenstein: Woodwinds, Percussion, Electronics
Lior Navok: Piano, Keyboards
’’The date of the film: 1927. The Lodger is considered Hitchcock’s first true artistic statement…his way of thinking (and seeing) is all there, even at this early stage! It is his primary silent film…soon after, talkies were produced, including his own groundbreaking movies. Working on this spectacular film has been both a privilege and challenge.’ S. Horenstein/ L. Navok
“The Lodger introduced themes that would run through much of Hitchcock’s later work: the innocent man on the run, hunted down by a self-righteous society, and a fetishistic sexuality. Hitchcock had clearly been watching contemporary films by Murnau and Lang, whose influence can be seen in the ominous camera angles and claustrophobic lighting. While Hitchcock had made two previous films, in later years the director would refer to The Lodger as the first true “Hitchcock film”. Beginning with The Lodger, Hitchcock helped shape the modern-day thriller genre in film.” (from Wikipedia)
The Lodger
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1920) John S. Robertson
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT ENSEMBLE
Stephen Horenstein: Woodwinds, Percussion, Electronics
Jeffery Kowalsky: Percussion
Lior Navok: Piano, Keyboards
Scientist Dr. Henry Jekyll (John Barrymore) is intelligent and diligent, but also uptight and extremely serious about his work. When his friend, Sir George Carew (Brandon Hurst), takes him to a show featuring the sensual Miss Gina (Nita Naldi), an aroused Jekyll sets out on a quest to separate man's saintly and sinful sides. His experiments succeed, and his evil alter ego, Mr. Hyde, is created. As the doctor uncontrollably alternates between Jekyll and Hyde, danger looms. (From IMDb)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
THE GOLEM (1920) Paul Wegener
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT ENSEMBLE
Stephen Horenstein: Woodwinds, Percussion, Electronics
Jeffery Kowalsky: Percussion
Lior Navok: Piano, Keyboards
In 16th century Prague, Rabbi Loew (Albert Steinruck) interprets an alignment of stars as a sign that disaster is about to befall the city's Jews. The following day, Emperor Luhois (Otto Gebühr) bans Loew's people from Prague, prompting the rabbi to build a statue, known as the Golem (Paul Wegener), that he hopes to animate as a savior. Brought to life by an evil spirit, Astaroth, the creature is, at first, gentle and compassionate. That, however, quickly changes as the creature goes insane. (From IMDb)
The Golem
NOSFERATU (1922) F.W. Murnau
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT ENSEMBLE
Stephen Horenstein: Woodwinds, Percussion, Electronics
Jeffery Kowalsky: Percussion
Lior Navok: Piano, Keyboards
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (translated as Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror; or simply Nosferatu) is a 1922 German Expressionist horror film, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Various names and other details were changed from the novel: for instance, "vampire" became "Nosferatu" and "Count Dracula" became "Count Orlok". Stoker's heirs sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, a few prints of Nosferatu survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema. The film was released in the United States on 3 June 1929, seven years after its original premiere in Germany. (from Wikipedia)
Nosferatu
The Israeli composer Lior Navok and the U.S. poet D. Nurkse have crafted an evening of experimental dialogue between music and poetry. Since meeting at the MacDowell Colony, the artists have recorded and performed collaborations in which music and poetry don’t just illustrate each other, but interact in innovative ways. Navok and Nurkse use improvisation, original texts, and classic texts in several languages. The result is a living conversation, an always-new one to two hour program which has been structured dramatically. Music and Poetry: Face to Face is an accessible meeting of minds, cultures, and disciplines, which leaves audiences with a new sense of the possibilities of the arts.The Israeli composer Lior Navok and the U.S. poet D. Nurkse have crafted an evening of experimental dialogue between music and poetry. Since meeting at the MacDowell Colony, the artists have recorded and performed collaborations in which music and poetry don’t just illustrate each other, but interact in innovative ways. Navok and Nurkse use improvisation, original texts, and classic texts in several languages. The result is a living conversation, an always-new one to two hour program which has been structured dramatically. Music and Poetry: Face to Face is an accessible meeting of minds, cultures, and disciplines, which leaves audiences with a new sense of the possibilities of the arts.
Butterfly Effect Ensemble is a cutting-edge ensemble creating dreamlike episodes with live performance, sound and visual imaging. This rare meeting of three veteran Israel musical creators, along with guest visual artists, results in an experience touching the subliminal, unexpected and surreal. The group’s hallmark is an inner communication built from years of collaborative composition. The ensemble’s sound is built from extremes: from extremely spacious and meditative spaces, to dense, primitive primal screams. Real-time composition creates an on-stage “drama” of discovery-three musicians taking a chance in real time, building miniature “worlds”, one by one, like islands in an archipelago, or pictures in a gallery. Each piece has its own unique feeling, tone and message. The overall effect is a sublime acoustic and visual experience, a blend of the ancient and modern.
The large array of instruments include: percussion (water gongs, vibraphone, amplified cymbals, roto toms, heat sink, Thailand nipple gongs, Indian chinta, roto toms, wood saws, bass drum, etc.); woodwinds (bass flute, alto flute, bass clarinet, soprano and baritone saxophones, Chinese flutes, bamboo saxophones, Tibetan double reed instruments, Irish flute, various ethnic double reed instruments)); and keyboards (grand piano with array of sticks and beaters, prepared piano).
Stephen Horenstein: Woodwinds, Percussion, Electronics
Jeffery Kowalsky: Percussion
Lior Navok: Piano, Keyboards
inFLUX DANCE COMPANY
REI ALIENA (2008)
Artistic Director & Concept: Lucía Baumgartner; Choreography: Lucía Baumgartner in collaboration with the performers;
Dancers: Sarah Duc , Tekeal Riley, Mélina Faka, Eva Recacha García, Mariemily Ochoa Guerra; Music: Lior Navok; Live Piano: Sarah Bob; Lightdesign: hellblau; Costume: Sarah Bachmann ; Photos: Anne Steudler.
«Rei Aliena» revels in constellations between people and the according abundance of actions. Thus creating a microcosm of characters and plots. Actions seemingly benign and everyday like evolve into surreal and absurd images. «Rei Aliena» (lat.: negligibility) is a big title for small episodes. Brief chapters of various associations, quick strands of thought determine the plot with ease and roots in the everyday life. Repetition means manifestation, manifestation is meaning. Minor matters become important only when they are disrupted, when the everyday routine is rattled and thus these little things become a big deal. A new impulse disturbs habitual patterns. These patterns erupt and disintegrate. A seemingly negligible episode is changing. The music – 20 short works for piano «The Old Photo Box» by Lior Navok, which were inspired by actual snap shots – supports the fragmented episode like structure of the paraphrased everyday actions. The American pianist Sarah Bob is playing live on the piano. Disturbing patterns and habits also become a theme in the make up of the production itself: Depending on where the production is shown, the professional dancers of the company meet local professionals who in turn inspire the choreography. Two narratives become thus visible: practical everyday gestures as opposed to stylized movement language. (Source: inFluxdance.com)
Rei Aliena
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