01/05/2016
Max Richter
ARTISTS:
MAX RICHTER
MARI SAMUELSEN – VIOLIN
THE MAX RICHTER ENSEMBLE
SINFONIETTA CRACOVIA
Max Richter was guest of ICE Kraków Congress Centre on 1st May 2016. In the first part of the concert, he performed "Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons" material with great Sinfonietta Cracovia and phenomenal Mari Samuelsen. In the second part of the evening Artist played his "The Blue Notebooks" material together with The Max Richter Ensemble.
Max Richter’s work embodies both the rigour of the Classical tradition and the experimentalism of contemporary electronica. Heart-stopping orchestral writing and mind-bending synthesis co-exist in his work; as he says, ‘Music exists beyond boundaries’. Richter writes beautifully crafted, intelligent work that is disarming in its honesty; his music, despite its underlying sophistication, appears simple.
Almost uniquely among contemporary Classical composers, Richter’s music is radically unafraid of appealing directly to our emotions. Numerous Classical No.1 records and streaming numbers measured in the hundreds of millions, together with sell-out shows at the world’s premiere venues, including London’s Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Philharmonie de Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Berlin’s Berghain are testament to Richter’s wide appeal.
Although long a staple of the avant-garde, by virtue of his influential solo albums, Richter’s name has recently seeped into public consciousness through his many collaborations with filmmakers. Golden Globe and European Film Academy Award-winner Waltz with Bashir, HBO’s cult drama The Leftovers, Jessica Chastain’s Miss Sloane, Hostiles starring Christian Bale, Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, and Tom Hardy’s Taboo, which gained Richter his first Emmy nomination, have all benefited from his art. In addition to his scoring work, numerous directors, including Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island) and, most recently, Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), have dipped into Richter’s catalogue. Richter has recently completed scores for the Oscar-tipped film White Boy Rick starring Matthew McConaughey, Mary Queen of Scots starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie as well as the HBO series My Brilliant Friend.
Richter’s 2012 Recomposed: The Four Seasons topped the classical charts in 22 countries, while its follow up, the eight-and-a-half-hour epic SLEEP explored new ways for music and consciousness to interact. Richter’s overnight performances of SLEEP have been performed across the globe for thousands.
Richter has consistently moved between solo works starting with his 2002 album Memoryhouse, which BBC Music described as “a masterpiece in neoclassical composition.”[ and collaborations with other artists. Richter’s work with musician and filmmaker Woodkid (The Golden Age) brought the duo a Grammy nomination, and the recent production of the Olivier award-winning Woolf Works, with long term collaborator Wayne McGregor at The Royal Ballet, resulted in the album Three Worlds, once again topping classical charts worldwide.
“No contemporary composer expresses the same complexity of emotion on screen as Max Richter, whose work pervades modern culture, from film to television to dance to theater.” THE ATLANTIC
“Notes that seem to reach for a place beyond the mortal world…” THE NEW YORKER
“Richter works in a tone that is sincere and serious; many of his pieces could be described as beautiful. It’s a style at odds with the fashionable inscrutability of postmodernism.” THE LA TIMES
“Max Richter’s potent distillations of classical tradition, minimal electronica, and the spoken word deliver a listening experience that intentionally levels the field between composer and audience; promoting an open and easy musical conversation without sacrificing depth or emotional resonance in the exchange.” 15 QUESTIONS
“British composer Max Richter is a towering figure within contemporary classical, a musician whose work straddles cinema, theatre, ballet and opera and reaches into pop and dance music.” CRACK MAGAZINE
“When it comes to pushing the boundaries of how far classical music can be modernised, there are none so influential as Max Richter. “ THE LINE OF BEST FIT
“Richter is the architect of a post-minimalist electronic revolution at the borderlands of classical music” 1843 MAGAZINE
“Max Richter is arguably one of the most influential and talented producers and composers of our generation. For more than fifteen years now he has been producing beautifully mesmerising records and soundtracks. He has captured a sense of modern ambience which is hard to replicate, although many have tried.” THE RANSOM NOTE
