NAQOYQATSI
Three very presentable poodles made their way to The Sydney Opera House to see the world premiere of 'Naqoyqatsi'. I have some fab pics taken at the site which I am still hoping to publish here. Back on went the uncomfortable shoes, the high heels, the floral Birkenstocks (Oh no it was the pink thongs, thongs has a different meaning in Australia by the way). Dresses and suits were due homage to this epochal performance. The house was full and wonderful to behold from within. Mostly concrete construction with hardwood trimmings and highly complicated gemetric forms. It should be acoustically good although I'm told that musicians find it not so. On the night though the sound was perfect and accurate.
'Naqoyqatsi' (a Hopi Indian word for 'life as war') is a film by Godfrey Reggio with music by Philip Glass. Performed this evening by Philip Glass and his ensemble, 11 souls. The star was undoubtedly the 'cello player Maya Beiser, a lyrical passionate performer who stands in for Yo Yo Ma who plays on the film version. The music was in the usual Glass arena of arpeggios , waves broken by lyrical phrases and amazing soundscapes underpinned by percusion(gongs etc) and zylephone. Also some backing track of a deep bass chanter. Guest musician was Mark Atkins, a didgeridoo player who blended in to the ensemble seamlessly. The content was moving almost to the point of tears, especially as the non verbal film portrayed the poignancy of our industrial military materialistic society on the face of the natural world. Thrown in were images of the iconic figures of this centuty such as Mandele, Marilyn Monroe, Einstein, and lamentably but correctly George Bush.There was also a quick run through of Art of the 20th century, images of key paintings bleeding into each other. Surveyed and wiped clean it seemed; an end of term report.
We emerged stunned into the barmy air of Sydney harbour and had refreshments on the quay, still about 20 degrees at eleven in the evening. One could quickly get used to the climate. On the other hand there are the ten most poisonous snakes in the world in Australia, spiders too and lacs (indian word) of mosquitos or birds in Gouldingese, hence bird cream and bird netting.
'Naqoyqatsi' (a Hopi Indian word for 'life as war') is a film by Godfrey Reggio with music by Philip Glass. Performed this evening by Philip Glass and his ensemble, 11 souls. The star was undoubtedly the 'cello player Maya Beiser, a lyrical passionate performer who stands in for Yo Yo Ma who plays on the film version. The music was in the usual Glass arena of arpeggios , waves broken by lyrical phrases and amazing soundscapes underpinned by percusion(gongs etc) and zylephone. Also some backing track of a deep bass chanter. Guest musician was Mark Atkins, a didgeridoo player who blended in to the ensemble seamlessly. The content was moving almost to the point of tears, especially as the non verbal film portrayed the poignancy of our industrial military materialistic society on the face of the natural world. Thrown in were images of the iconic figures of this centuty such as Mandele, Marilyn Monroe, Einstein, and lamentably but correctly George Bush.There was also a quick run through of Art of the 20th century, images of key paintings bleeding into each other. Surveyed and wiped clean it seemed; an end of term report.
We emerged stunned into the barmy air of Sydney harbour and had refreshments on the quay, still about 20 degrees at eleven in the evening. One could quickly get used to the climate. On the other hand there are the ten most poisonous snakes in the world in Australia, spiders too and lacs (indian word) of mosquitos or birds in Gouldingese, hence bird cream and bird netting.
posted by Tim Goulding at Thursday, January 13, 2005
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