Ordering my drink in the Bristol Beacon’s bar last week, five minutes before curtain up on Paraorchestra’s latest show, I felt a mild sense of unease. Where was my instrument? Had I tuned up? Concert clothes ironed? Where were all my fellow musicians?! These familiar thoughts vanished when I wandered into the hall at 7.30, pint in hand, for I was there not to perform, but instead enjoy the rare treat of listening to the Paraorchestra as an audience member.
Clarinet playing duties were in the very safe hands of Matthew Scott, and aside from the odd pang of musical “FOMO” I thoroughly enjoyed the next hour. At Paraorchestra, we’ve birthed several versions of The Anatomy of the Orchestra over the years. In this concept (dreamt up by our Artistic Director Charles Hazlewood) the orchestra plays as the audience roam freely amongst the musicians positioned far apart across a wide open space. Many find it a profoundly stimulating and moving experience - especially those who have never stood next to a cellist drawing their bow across the string, felt the reverberations of a timpani drum being struck at force, or witnessed the amount of air brass players require when playing.
In this new version of Anatomy, Charles programmed an atmospheric sequence of three works inspired by drone: Rylan Gleave’s exquisite new commission, Straylight, Arvo Pärt’s Fratres and The Last Time by Pauline Oliveros. The latter threw a spotlight on the radiant, celestial voice of soprano Victoria Oruwari, in an enchanting reworking of the original for Paraorchestra forces by Charlotte Harding. Huge congratulations to all involved.
Other January highlights? I’ve been obsessed with The Traitors. If you’re catching up - don’t panic, no spoilers here! But I loved the first series last year and loved it even more second time round. I genuinely can’t think of anything more gripping, more intriguing, more well-crafted on British television at the moment, particularly in genres outside of scripted drama. If you haven’t seen it already then I expect you’ve already made up your mind not to. If you have, let’s chat on WhatsApp…
Speculating on the treacherous goings ons at Andross Castle has left precious little time for leaving my flat in the evenings - just as well given I needed to save some pennies this month. But I did make two trips to the cinema and will give honourable mentions to both films here: Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves, a glacially slow but very sweet love story between two strangers in Helsinki (better than it sounds, promise), and Andrew Haigh’s All Of Us Strangers, which also starts off at a low simmer but builds to a powerful ending, aided by Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s The Power of Love - one of the best uses of a pop song to close a film I can remember. The two central performances from Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are brilliantly magnetising.
Next month, I’m looking forward to getting back in the saddle - no more pre-performance trips to the bar for a while, thank you! I have a number of springtime performances coming up in Plymouth, Manchester and London - all the latest live dates are on my homepage. See you there!
