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This is Tuesday: This Isn’t for You – Critical Distortions: Natalie Clein (cello), Simon Fisher Turner (computer), Shiva Feshareki (turntables) Kings Place, London 2.12.2008 (CR)


Hall 2 of Kings Place was transformed into a chill out zone for this performance, with audience members sitting on brightly coloured bean bags on the floor, while images of the performers from different angles were projected onto a screen behind the stage. The concert was part of a series curated by Matt Fretton, called ‘This isn’t for You’, based around his classical music club night in Shoreditch, and drew a young and enthusiastic audience.

The laid-back ambience was the perfect setting for this music. Natalie Clein’s sonorous cello sound could be felt reverberating through the floor, and it was a wonderful experience to hear her 1777 Guadagnini cello at such close quarters.

The concert began with an impassioned performance of the first movement of Kodaly’s cello sonata, composed in 1915. Clein was convincing in her performance of this challenging work, communicating well to the audience and making the Hungarian folk influences come to life. This was immediately followed by a collaboration with pop musician and sound designer Simon Fisher Turner, which used the Kodaly as a basis. The computer generated sounds began with slow moving textures which brought to mind the music of Brian Eno, gradually introducing a pulse which Clein took over on the cello. The piece developed with looped cello recordings of parts of the Kodaly, alongside improvised material, which built up towards the centre of the piece before the loops dropped out one by one and the piece ended as it began. This was an enjoyable work which was ideally suited to the concept of the evening, distorting a pre-existing work into something new. I would have liked to have heard more of the computer sounds in the mix though; the hall has a state of the art PA system, which I felt was under-used, and the overall effect would have been much more encompassing if the sound had been a little more present.

The central piece of the concert was Shiva Feshareki’s Critical Distortions for cello and turntables, which was, for me, the star of the show. Feshareki was the winner of the 2004 Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year, and is currently student at the Royal College of Music. I was not entirely sure what to expect from this collaboration, but was deeply impressed by the inventiveness and the honesty of the writing. The cello part was essentially melodic, with some impressive glissandi which mimicked the turntables, demonstrating Feshareki’s excellent understanding of instrumental writing. The turntables themselves were used in an essentially percussive way, and the ensemble between the performers was remarkable. Feshareki was mesmerizing in performance, and for me the highlight of the piece was the extended central solo for turntables. Most striking about this work was the originality of expression, and the use of turntables in this way reminded me of Stockhausen’s work with short wave radios (for example in Kurzwellen), or the early electronic music of Varèse: Feshareki, too, gives the sense that this is potentially the beginning of a new era in music which could be deeply influential to later generations. She has already developed an impressive CV, and is definitely a talent to watch out for.

The final pairing of the concert was the first movement of Bach’s G major cello suite, combined with a ‘distortion’ of a Casals recording of the same work. Clein’s solo version was well controlled and richly sonorous. Less convincing was the opening of the ‘distortion’, when Clein played along with a Casals recording in a canon with the original. This was briefly uncomfortable, as to my ear it came across as two people playing the same very tonal piece at different times, rather than any kind of musical fusion of ideas. However, the piece was quickly redeemed by some humorous treatments of the records, once again in the hands of Shiva Feshareki’s very able turntable playing. There were moments of ingenuity which showed the music in a new light and made this performance very enjoyable indeed.

The concert ended with a short encore from Clein of Casal’s Song of the birds, with added bird song. Although slightly sentimental in comparison with the rest of the programme, this was an enjoyable performance and brought an exciting evening of music to an end.

Carla Rees


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