In an anechoic chamber, the possibility of an echo is eliminated, taking with it the possibility of perceiving space through sound. The construction of the Reethaus inner room approaches this effect, and within this particular kind of void, Anri Sala installs a new and bespoke reimagining of Ravel Ravel. The work, in evolution since first being presented at the Venice Biennale in 2013, introduces a series of intervals into a seminal concerto such that pianos come in and out of sync, producing in the mind of the listener the illusion of an echo. With the echo, space itself seems to filter back into the room. Thus, altering not a single note of Maurice Ravel’s work but all the spaces between the notes, Sala momentarily nudges us free of the grip of both chronos and topos.
Ravel Ravel has its origins in Sala’s research into the left hand repertory for piano that developed as limbs were lost during the First World War. Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, the paradigmatic composition in this tradition, was commissioned from Maurice Ravel by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein after his right arm was amputated in a field hospital after the Battle of Galicia.
Part of the “Transmissions” series curated by Soundwalk Collective, in Ravel Ravel Revisited Redux, the 360-degree sound space of Reethaus has been exploited by Sala to impress the work with spatial displacements corresponding to the temporal ones. This version weaves together previous iterations of this deeply layered work, featuring the original performances of pianists Louis Lortie, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and the National Orchestra of France in a 16-channel spatial sound installation accompanied by the performance of Bertrand Chamayou on a Steinway & Sons Spirio both engineered by Olivier Goinard.
Following the playing of the work and an intermission, Anri Sala will be in conversation with Stephan Crasneanscki of Soundwalk Collective, after which Ravel Ravel Revisited Redux will be played again.
