Opéra Concrète

Dates:
June 1, 2022, 19:00, Račianske mýto, Bratislava, Slovakia
July 27, 2022, 16:00, Aupark, Žilina,  Slovakia, Kiosk festival 2022
July 21, 2023, 15:30, Josefov fortress, Josefov Summer School 2023

Programme:
Prelude (2″)
1. Sostenuto e pianissimo. (11”)
2. Sensibile moltissimo e Ambisonicamente. (17″)
3. Movement. Lasciare sonare. (23″)
Postlude (ad libitum)

“… let’s wander through a large modern city and observe with more than the eyes, distinguish the sound of water, air or gas in metal pipes, the gentle rumble of machines that most certainly breathe and pulsate like living things, the beat of valves, the rumble of pistons, the screeching of gears, the bumps of the tram on the rail, the cracking of whips, the flapping of canvas blinds and flags.”

– Luigi Rusollo: The Art of Noise. A futuristic manifesto. 1913

“The whole [city] sounded as if there were huge metal slabs lying under the pavement, which echoed in the hollows. The bass trembled whenever a tram passed by, it rang like a triangle the instant a heel hit the pavement, and even a thrown cigarette butt didn’t go without a response. I realized that somewhere down there – rather than up in the Heavens – our every step, slide and jump is being recorded.”

– Jan Němec: Possibilities of a Romance Novel. 2020

A young woman in a black-and-white dress arrives at an intersection. On a leash, she leads a black-and-white border collie. They stop at the black-and-white crossing. Tram brakes screech. The traffic light, oh that electronic conductor of mass displacement, signals the adagio. It means not-too-quickly in Italian, but to those shipwrecked on the solitary asphalt island in the middle of the endless traffic scenery, it sounds like infinitely slow… In the distance, a four-wheeler appears. Around the corner, an electric hum of a starting trolleybus. Capsella bursa-pastoris goes about the business of growing steadily, right there, in a crack in the asphalt – but whoever notices such things? Everyone just waits and waits, hoping their time will finally come. Until molto vivace! and like on Warp 9 they jump to the other side. How many different ideas – unbeknownst to each other – met on that island?

Waiting is a mode offering time. Oh, if only we could wait for something today!

Sound Topographies are a series of acoustic interventions with a simple intention: to make us listen to this world and the soundscape that forms its acoustic exoskeleton. Listening means creating space for new questions. By hearing, we observe – we study – the acoustic manifestations of the landscape and its sound quality. We map the world, discover acoustic spaces, look for connections with various fields of natural sciences and humanities. We contextualize, if necessary. The interpretation is up to each of us.