Heritage Orchestra and friends make history
REVIEW: Heritage Orchestra, DJ Switch, Gabriel Prokofiev and Beardyman, De la Warr Pavilion, November 14
There was an interesting atmosphere in the stunning surroundings of the De la Warr auditorium before this gig? concert? installation? happening?
As the crowd filed in - predominantly young, good-looking and well-dressed - there was a sense of excited uncertainty in the air about exactly what we were letting ourselves in for.
The Heritage Orchestra is embarking on a new residency at the De la Warr, and this was the launch event, bringing together a programme of artists which reflect the genre-busting eclecticism the orchestra prides itself on.
With turntables and trombones, violins and video projections, Heritage is on a mission to reinvent the traditional idea of orchestral music, marrying the traditional with the cutting edge in a musical match made in heaven.
Or so goes the theory. Unfortunately the first half of the evening never really got out of first gear.
Publicity-hungry academics often claim if Shakespeare was alive today he would write for Coronation Street - the genius of yesteryear was simply pandering to the most popular artform at the time.
In an interesting musical twist on this idea, Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of Sergei and musical force in his own right, presented his Concerto for turntables and orchestra featuring the outstanding DJ Switch, the current world DJ battle champion.
But it was interesting without being exciting - every time it began to gather momentum the piece seemed to duck away.
The individual talents of the orchestra and DJ Switch are unquestioned but like a Lampard-Gerrard midfield partnership the overall effect was frustratingly less than the sum of its parts.
Thankfully, for fans of football metaphors, this was an evening of two halves.
In the second, Beardyman, one of the UK's best beatboxers joined the orchestra on stage for a fantastically ambitious improvised collaboration.
From the moment he was introduced, it was clear Beardyman was the performer most people had come to see, and he didn't disappoint, from battling a cello to using a riff from Faithless classic We Come One as the basis for a soaring brass-led number.
The sheer musicality of the man is astounding and the pieces he created with the expert help of the orchestra were complex, ambitious and amusingly tongue-in-cheek.
From drum n' bass to disco the crowd went with their every turn, and the deafening reaction at the end was proof positive just how successful this collaboration of beauty and the beats had been.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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