Reviews of 4.48 Psychosis with Intercontemporain / Pintscher

22 December 2021 - news

The Festival d’Automne à Paris and Ensemble Intercontemporain gave a concert performance of 4.48 Psychosis on 16th December 2021. The concert was part of the Festival feature about my work, and took place in the Cité de la Musique in the Philharmonie de Paris. The concert featured singers Gweneth Ann Rand, Robyn Allegra Parton, Karen Bandelow, Samantha Price, Rachael Lloyd and Lucy Schaufer, and was conducted my Matthias Pintscher, with Aurélien Gignoux and Gilles Durot taking the solo percussion roles. Nicholas Berteloot and Emmanuelle Corbeau did sound design, Elayce Ismail looked after ‘mise en espace’ and lights, and Pierre Martin the video.

There was a short introduction on Radio France here.

There have been some reviews online of the performance. Here are some excerpts (machine translated):

“The incantation, the closed-mouth singing, the variations in the speed of language, the choral flows: more than a work on the voice itself, it is the dialectic of breath and emission that runs through the work. Philip Venables’ writing takes over the form, like drugs cannibalising the mind.” — Opera Online

“Philip Venables’ music magnifies this text, with contrasts and even a touch of black humour, by alternating, sometimes abruptly, between very oppressive moments and others that are tender but always with an underlying anguish, taking the listener into this whirlwind of despair.” — Olyrix

“an opera that pushes the limits of the genre and whose emotional force embraces us.” — ResMusica

“At a time when so many composers are trying their hand at opera, paradoxically there are not so many who are convincing in this exercise. All the more reason to give due recognition to the British composer Philip Venables (born in 1979), whose Paris premiere of 4.48 Psychosis confirms his undeniable talent for the genre” — Premiere Loge

› tags: 2021/22 Season / 4.48 Psychosis / Elayce Ismail / Ensemble Intercontemporain / Festival d'Automne à Paris / Gweneth-Ann Rand / Karen Bandelow / Lucy Schaufer / Matthias Pintscher / Opera & Music Theatre / Pierre Martin Oriol / Press / Rachael Lloyd / Robyn Allegra Parton / Samantha Price /