Ether 2011: Adrian Utley (Portishead) & Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) collaborate for The Passion of Joan of Arc

Adrian Utley

Will Gregory, photo: Chris Chrisodoulou

Shot in France in 1927 by Carl Theodore Dreyer, the silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc was the victim of 55 years of bad luck. Censored before its release in 1928, the original negative was destroyed by fire. Then a second negative re-edited by Dreyer from alternate takes was also thought lost to fire. For more than half a century, this great classic of silent film was known only in mutilated copies, or in a sonorised version which made numerous changes to the original.

Then in 1981, an original Danish copy, complete and in very good condition, was miraculously discovered in a closet of a Norwegian mental institution.

Now Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory and Portishead’s Adrian Utley have collaborated to give The Passion of Joan of Arc a 21st-century make-over creating an original score set to the silent film.

Southbank Centre welcomes this fusion of 15th-century French heroism, 20th-century movie history and 21st-century music-making to close Ether festival 2011.

Catch The Passion of Joan of Arc at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of Ether 2011 on Thursday 28 April. Get tickets here

Ether 2011: Space Capsule lands at Southbank Centre

On 31 March & 1 April, Will Gregory’s Piccard in Space crash-lands at Southbank Centre as part of Ether 2011. Gregory’s (of Goldfrapp) debut opera is a classic adventure about the real-life physicist Auguste Piccard and his mission to prove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

In 1931, he broke aviation records by reaching 51,775 feet (15,781m) above the earth in a tiny airtight capsule. Against all odds, Piccard survived being roasted by the sun and crashing into the Alps. In 1932, he went up again, reaching 53,152 feet (16,200m).

Clearly not a blackboard and chalk type of scientist, Piccard became world front-page news and the inspiration for Hergé’s cartoon character Professor Calculus in The Adventures of Tintin series.

Auguste Piccard

 

To celebrate BBC Concert Orchestra and Will Gregory’s collaboration, we have brought the actual 1932 capsule to Royal Festival Hall. Landing on site today, the capsule will be on display in the foyer until 11 April.

See Will Gregory’s Piccard in Space at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on 31 March & 1 April as part of Ether 2011. Get tickets here.

Line-up announced for Ether Festival 2011 & listen to our Ether Spotify playlist

Ether, Southbank Centre’s annual music festival of innovation, art, technology and cross-arts experimentation, returns from 24 March – 28 April for its tenth year this year with a mix of rock iconoclasts and contemporary classical pioneers.

From Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke playing alongside London Sinfonietta and members of The Nazareth Orchestra in 2005 to Chris Cunningham’s mind-and-eye-blowing audio-visual spectacular in 2010, Ether has presented groundbreaking work for a decade now.

As we celebrate its tenth birthday, this year is no different as we bring you one-off collaborations and groundbreaking work including post-punk pioneers Killing Joke, Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey with a live score from the Philharmonia Orchestra and special shows from the likes of Tim Exile, Will Gregory, Pantha du Prince, Wolfgang Voigt and Micachu & the Shapes.

We have a selection of events focussing on contemporary-classical innovator Iannis Xenakis and his architectural approach to composition, plus Rites, a special performance of Stravinsky’s early modernist masterpiece The Rite of Spring, with stunning 3D visuals. Southbank Centre Resident Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, also perform a series of concerts including the work of minimalist composer Louis Andriessen.

Plus workshops with Tim Exile, the Xenakis International Symposium, free gigs and much more.

We’ve put together an Spotify playlist for you to sample some of the upcoming Ether artists. Listen here.

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