Face to Face
Part performance, part installation, Face to Face contemplates bodies, desire and intimacy. Renaissance madrigals and new music by Joanna Ward forms the core of a rich and emotionally-charged musical encounter.
Underpinning this musical body is a spatialised soundscape; a ghostly tissue of movement, breath, and fragmented utterings. Projections confront the audience with an arresting, even voyeuristic visual experience that together with sound and music captures the aura of our closest encounters.
Our audience feedback…
“very moving, stunning voices”
“haunting”
“ethereal”
“beautiful, intriguing, involving, contemplative, calming, wondrous, peaceful”
“totally engrossing, beautiful, stunning singing”
“now I have to entirely rethink the purpose of madrigal singing”
“beautiful sounds, luminous, tender”
“wonderful communication”
“how glorious to hear imitative polyphony with such spatial separation”
“glorious and enchanting”
“beautiful, intimate - a privilege to be here”
Performances
Aldeburgh Festival 15 June 2024 (world premiere)
Music
Featuring works by:
Maddalena Casulana
Carlo Gesualdo
Leonard Meldert
Cipriano de Rore
Michelangelo Rossi
Joanna Ward (co-commissioned by The Marian Consort and Britten Pears Arts)
Giaches de Wert
Co-commissioned by Britten Pears Arts. The Marian Consort is grateful for the support of the Marchus Trust and the Maria Björnson Memorial Fund.
The Marian Consort is actively seeking touring opportunities for this project. If you’re interested in presenting Face to Face, please contact us.
Creative Team
Elspeth Piggott soprano
Rory McCleery alto, music director
Will Wright, David de Winter tenor
Jon Stainsby bass
Ell Potter actor/voice artist
Joanna Ward composer
Helen Atkinson sound designer
Liv Penny videographer
Tom Taylor audio-visual support
James Hardie creative producer