Paraorchestra will perform Dance Like Nobody’s Watching in a London premiere bringing together work by Arnold Schönberg, Gustav Mahler and Johann Strauss II. It is inspired by The Society for Private Musical Performance, the underground and utopian club that composer Arnold Schönberg founded in 1918 in Vienna to promote contemporary music and reinvigorate the live experience for musicians and music lovers.
Conducted by Paraorchestra Artistic Director Charles Hazlewood, Dance Like Nobody’s Watching features mezzo-soprano Bethan Langford and will be accompanied by specially created projected visuals by filmmaker and director John Minton, who has worked with the likes of Portishead, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Sleaford Mods.
Schönberg founded The Society for Private Musical Performance after becoming tired of what he saw as the ignorance and conservative mindset of the establishment, the critics, and celebrity musicians of the time. He dreamed of a new counterculture. Here, the establishment was shunned, programmes were not released in advance and free from inhibition, Schönberg and his friends could focus on the music and the music alone. They rehearsed and played at a ferocious pace, presenting music normally performed exclusively for the entitled and privileged. in Schönberg’s alternative reality they reclaimed it to be enjoyed in its purest and most visceral form – by and for music lovers.
Charles Hazlewood comments: “With Dance Like Nobody’s Watching, we want to transport the audience back to Vienna in 1918 and this incredible space that Schönberg created – The Society for Private Musical Performance. It was an underground club for rebels, misfits and adventurers, a utopia of musical escapism. It was the antithesis of the opulence and grandeur that audiences were accustomed to. It was quite punk, pared down and frayed at the edges. We’re inviting you into Schönberg’s inner circle to experience era-defining orchestral reductions performed with a vigour as never before.”
REPERTOIRE
Five Orchestral Pieces [version for chamber ensemble] – Arnold Schönberg
Roses from the South – Johann Strauss II arr. Schönberg
Treasure Waltz – Johann Strauss II arr. Webern
Wine, Women and Song – Johann Strauss II arr. Berg
Lagoon Waltz – Johann Strauss II arr. Schönberg
Emperor Waltz – Johann Strauss II arr. Schönberg
Songs of a Wayfarer – Gustav Mahler arr. Schönberg
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX 4th October at 7pm.
Booking and full details: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/paraorchestra-dance-like-nobodys-watching/
