Press – Michelle DiBucci

CHARLOTTE SALOMON, DER TOD UND DIE MALERIN

…. Can this subject matter be melded into a ballet soiree? Can dance meet the demands of that fragment of history? Gelsenkirchen’s ballet director Bridget Breiner, together with the composer Michelle DiBucci, answered this question with a resounding, triumphant, “yes!”

The thirteen-member dance ensemble, five singers and the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, under Valtteri Rauhalammi, create an oratorio of sounds, voices and bodies that translates the luminosity of the template into a polyphonic theatrical language.

Lässt sich diesem Stoff ein Ballettabend abzwingen? Kann der Tanz dieser Geschichte gerecht werden? Gelsenkirchens Ballettchefin Bridget Breiner hat diese Frage gemeinsam mit der Komponistin Michelle DiBucci im Musiktheater im Revier triumphal beantwortet.

Das dreizehnköpfige Tanzensemble, die fünf Sänger und die Neue Philharmonie Westfalen unter Valtteri Rauhalammi erschaffen ein Oratorium aus Klängen, Stimmen und Körpern, das die Leuchtkraft seiner Vorlage in polyfone Theatersprache übersetzt. Dorion Weickmann, SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG

This is set to the reduced, but then again and again polyphonically layered singing in DiBucci’s work, which is full of depth, infused with clear melodies, but also moments that call the audience to listen up, as well as sound effects and pure sounds. The work is asking a lot of our senses. The desire to further consider the impact of what has been heard, but at the same time, not letting go of the attraction of the fast-moving choreography – and in terms of content, following the biographical scenes in particular for viewers who have not informed themselves deeply of the stations of Charlotte Salamon’s life.

Dazu erklingen der reduzierte, aber immer wieder mehrstimmig überlagerte Gesang und die Komposition DiBuccis, die voller Materialtiefen steckt, voller klarer Melodien, aber auch Aufhorch-Momente, Soundeffekte und Geräusche beinhaltet. Den Sinnen wird folglich viel abgefordert, möchte man dem Gehörten in seiner Wirkung nachgehen, zugleich nicht die Anziehung zur oft temporeichen Choreographie verlieren und inhaltlich den biographischen Szenen folgen, diese lassen nämlich auch Assoziationsspielräume für die Details zu – zumal für Zuschauer, die sich vorab nicht intensiv über die Lebensstationen Charlotte Salomons informiert haben. Bettina Weber, DIE DEUTSCHE BÜHNE

… the spellbinding work of the New York composer Michelle DiBucci …. a celebrated premiere. Breiner and the large cast of highly motivated dancers, singers and musicians created a complex evening of exceptional intensity…

… the music – sometimes elegiacally tender, sometimes furiously powerful, wildly jagged, full of innuendos of Gluck’s Oprheus (“Ach ich habe sie verloren), Bizet’s doomed Carmen, and Beethoven’s brotherhood anthem of the Ninth, with French accordion sounds and devastating guitar riffs…

Am Musiktheater im Revier (MiR) erlebte das fesselnde Werk der New Yorker Komponistin Michelle DiBucci und der Gelsenkirchener Ballettchefin Bridget Breiner eine umjubelte Uraufführung. Breiner und der großen Schar hochmotivierter Tänzer, Sänger und Musiker ist ein komplexer Abend von seltener Intensität geglückt.

Mit hochkonzentrierter Hingabe widmen sich Kapellmeister Valtteri Rauhalammi und ein 15-köpfiges Kammerensemble der zitatgesättigten, mal elegisch zarten, mal furios auftrumpfenden, wild zerklüfteten Musik voller Anspielungen auf Glucks „Orpheus“ („Ach ich habe sie verloren“), Bizets todgeweihte Carmen und Beethovens Verbrüderungschor aus der „Neunten“, mit französischen Akkordeonklängen und wüsten Gitarrenriffs. HERTENER ALLGEMEINE

Breiner won the American composer Michelle DiBucci for writing the music for the ballet: 15 musicians, not symphonically but rather cinematically conceived, postmodern, interspersed with classical quotes (Mozart, Bizet and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden at the end), very impressively following Salomon’s images, which – projected on canvas – float by at the back of the stage.

Breiner hat die amerikanische Komponistin Michelle DiBucci gewonnen, die Musik zum Ballett zu schreiben: 15 Musiker, nicht sinfonisch, sondern eher filmisch erfunden, postmodern und mit klassischen Zitaten durchsetzt (Mozart, Bizet, am Ende Schuberts „Der Tod und das Mädchen)‚ sehr eindrücklich den Bildern Salomons folgend, die, auf Leinwände projiziert, im Bühnenhintergrund vorüberschweben. Heinz-Albert Heindrichs, RUHR NACHRICHTEN

Michelle DiBucci composed a gripping score for Breiners ballet, with a brilliant stage set by Juergen Kirner. The Neue Philharmonie Wesphalia performed passionately under Valtteri Rauhalammi. The Ballet im Revier keeps raising its profile. All involved gained the respect of, and were celebrated by, the audience attending the premiere.

Bridget Breiner and the American composer Michelle DiBucci chose in close co-operation from some key scenes from this Singspiel and created an impressive scenario with the density and most intensity in the second act.

Michelle DiBucci hat eine packend theatrale Partitur für Breiners… Ballett in der fulminanten Ausstattung von Jürgen Kirner komponiert. Die Neue Philharmonie Westfalen musiziert unter Valtteri Rauhalammi leidenschaftlich. Das Ballett im Revier gewinnt immer mehr Profil. Jubel und Respekt des Premierenpublikums waren einhellig für alle Beteiligten.

Bridget Breiner und die amerikanische Komponistin Michelle DiBucci wählten in enger Zusammenarbeit einige Schlüsselszenen aus diesem Singspiel aus und schufen ein eindrückliches Szenario, das im zweiten Teil an Dichte und Intensität gewinnt. Marieluise Jeitschko, TANZETZ.DE

The work by the American composer Michelle DiBucci was accompanied by a 15-person chamber orchestra, singer Anke Sieloff and a quintett of singers of the Musiktheater Gelsenkirchen supporting with lyrics and song the dancers of the Ballet im Revier. That way the entirety of the artistic oevre of Salomon was comprehensible in its entirety. Digital projections of her pictures were woven into the stage set.

All artists and creatives involved in the work inspired the audience with Bridget Breiner’s interpretation, which was obvious from the extended applause and bravos. A very convincing Gesamtkunstwerk that mirrored Charlotte Salomon’s biography in vivid images, choreography, dance, music, vocal artistry and lyrics.

Die Komposition der amerikanischen Komponistin Michelle DiBucci wurde begleitet von einem 15-köpfigen Kammerorchester. Sängerin Anke Sieloff und ein Quintett aus Sängern des Gelsenkirchener Musiktheaters unterstützten mit Text und Gesang die Tänzerinnen und Tänzer des Balletts im Revier. So wurde zum ersten Mal das künstlerische Werk Salomons in seiner Gesamtheit fassbar. Ihre Bilder wurden als digitale Projektionen in das Bühnenbild eingewoben.

Alle Künstler und Macher des Abends begeisterten das Publikum mit der Interpretation Bridget Breiners. Das war dem langen Beifall und den Bravorufen zu entnehmen. Ein überzeugendes Gesamtkunstwerk, das die Biografie der Charlotte Salomon in farbigen Bildern, Choreografie, Tanz, Musik, Gesang und Text spiegelt. Herbert Terlau, HALLOHERNE

The score is by composer Michelle DiBucci, who likewise reconciles opposites: jazz, Mozart, Bizet and Tango, atmospherical, cinematic music with long continuous tones and sudden dissonances. The aria “Ach, ich habe sie verloren” of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydike (sung by Anke Sieloff) appears to be the recurring leitmotif. the aria is being sung in its entirely, picked up again, the first phrase is being transposed, discolored by the basoon and brass instruments. DiBucci knows how to make quotes work atmospherically, thereby creating something new. She also incorporates a men’s quintett which has the most impact when simply integrated into the stream of music. the Neue Philharmonia Westphalia under Valteri Rauhalammi implements the score clearly and with an edge.

Die Partitur stammt von der Komponistin Michelle Dibucci, die ebenfalls Gegensätze vereint: Jazz, Mozart, Bizet und Tango, atmosphärische, filmische Musik mit Liegetönen und jähen Dissonanzen. Als Leitmotiv taucht die Arie aus Glucks „Orpheus und Eurydike“ auf: „Ach, ich habe sie verloren“ (gesungen von Anke Sieloff). Die Arie wird komplett gesungen, wieder aufgegriffen, die erste Phrase wird transponiert, von Fagott und Blechinstrumenten verfärbt. DiBucci versteht es, Zitaten eine atmosphärische Wirkung abzugewinnen und daraus etwas Neues zu schaffen. Sie integriert auch ein Männerquintett, das dann am stärksten wirkt, wenn es einfach in den Musikstrom eingebunden wird. Die Neue Philhamonie Westfalen unter Valteri Rauhalammi setzt die Partitur klar und kantig um. WA.DE KULTUR NRW

BASETRACK LIVE

The older you get, the quicker Top 10 time seems to arrive. The past year in theater seemed more than usually breathless, but the rewards were many, sometimes seemingly constant.‘Basetrack Live’ The first project from Anne Hamburger’s reconstituted En Garde Arts drew on photography and video testimonials from Marines in Afghanistan to explore what it means to be a soldier. Combining live performance — and live music — with the smartly arranged footage, this extraordinary production explored the impact of war on both the men who fight it and the families they return to. THE NEW YORK TIMES, CHARLES ISHERWOOD’S BEST THEATER OF 2014

…a richly varied music score, by Michelle DiBucci, Mr. Bilous and Greg Kalember, is played live by a four-piece band…The images of Afghanistan often have a hypnotic beauty, and the music brings a consoling warmth to even the grimmer passages. Charles Isherwood, THE NEW YORK TIMES

The outstanding musical group includes Trevor Exter on cello, Kenneth Rodriguez on trumpet, Melanie “Mazz” Swift on violin, and Daniele Cavalca on percussion and keyboards.
This talented ensemble of four provides the heartbeat to the show with sometimes haunting, sometimes harrowing music composed by Michelle DiBucci, Edward Bilous, and Greg Kalember. Much more than mere background, the show’s score mirrors the lives and the relationship of a married couple. Pete Hempstead, THEATERMANIA

…This scene showcases perhaps the most engaging part of “Basetrack Live”: the soundscape. The electro-acoustic instrumentation is composed of a violin, a cello, a drumset, and a DJ who occasionally plays trumpet. The music goes from surreal and sensational to calm and heartfelt effortlessly. The electronic element also allows the musicians to create the most incredible sounds. It’s hard to believe how much of the soundscape and musical score is being produced on the spot. Logan Herringron, THE DAILY TEXAN

The lyrical score of “Basetrack Live,” from classical to rap, manages to capture the dichotomy between serenity and chaos. It is this music that heightens the contrast between the moon that AJ continually finds solace in during his nights in Afghanistan and subsequent military shootouts. The musicgives the audience the liberty to gracefully divide itsattention fromAJ, his voice and physical presence on stage, and the overlapping digital phantasmagoria of wartime images on the screen above. Yazmine Mihojevich, DAILY BRUIN, UCLA

“Basetrack Live” is a multimedia experience, and it is viscerally powerful in the way that the music and videos integrate into the performance — a four-piece band accompanies everything taking place onstage. There is a segment early on where our guide, A.J. Czubai, portrayed by Marine/actor Tyler La Marr, sets the stage for his arrival into Afghanistan. After he finishes describing his perspective while entering the war-torn country, a visual and auditory explosion takes over the stage. With a searing instrumental rock track blazing ahead, a powerfully frenetic video of Marines moving through the harsh Afghan terrain envelops the giant screen that is covering the back of the stage from floor to ceiling. I was completely and utterly hooked from this point onward. Jeffrey Irvine, LIFE IN CINEMA

ON THE NATURE OF THINGS

Michelle DiBucci’s …baroque-inspired music proved effectively provocative accompaniment.

Robert Greskovic, WALL STREET JOURNAL

Moving slowly to the sound of a sweet searching violin (rich, questing music by Michelle DiBucci)… American Dance Festival, by THE FIVE POINTS STAR

WENDIGO

“…a wonderfully eerie score by composer Michelle DiBucci”
Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES

“…Michelle DiBucci’s score is a mesmerizing listen … spare, chilling …
With exceptional creativity, DiBucci has crafted a dark, melodic fairy tale.” VENICE MAGAZINE

WENDIGO SOUNDTRACK

DiBucci, combines Native American percussion, chanting, flutes, strings and a children’s choir to haunting effect. DiBucci’s score works to highlight the tragic aspects of the story, as well as the creepiness, by weaving together a sparse and melodic tapestry that not only reflects the eerie mood of the film, but, with its utilization of traditional Native American instruments and field recordings, sounds like it could emanate from the very earth itself. Audiodrome: Music In Film Written by James Gracey , PARACINEMA

“A monster movie about childhood and myth, Wendigo impressed us enough last year to write it up in a feature story (see RM#25). The soundtrack album took a while to make it into our offices, but I’m not surprised to learn that the music is largely responsible for the metaphysical dread that permeates the film. Riffing from the movie’s twin motifs (Native mythology and childhood fantasy), composer Michelle DiBucci combines Native American percussion, flutes, chants, and vocal melodies as well as a children’s choir and string orchestra with the occasional – understated – horror movie flourish. It’s an artfully crafted representation of the film’s themes, full of fear, wonder and reflection. Available from glasseyepix.com. ***** (5 out of 5) — Greg Chant, RUE MORGUE Magazine

“MONSTERS AT THE DOOR: If you’ve run out of gas in the midnight woods, Wendigo (Pacific Time) is the last thing you want draining your car radio’s power. But in the comfort of your home’s cd player, Michelle DiBucci’s score is a mesmerizing listen. With spare, chilling effectiveness, Wendigo conjures the forest demons in a little boys fevered imagination. Female voices, monstrous howls, violins and native American percussion create a snowy landscape as creepy as all get out. With exceptional creativity, DiBucci has crafted a dark, melodic fairy tale that makes for a ghost story well told over a campfire.” VENICE MAGAZINE CD reviews