Karakorum: A Medieval Musical Journey provides an unexpected but delightful experience as the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Choir collaborate with French ensemble La Camera delle Lacrime and renowned Australian actor David Wenham as narrator.
The enterprising Paul Dyer, whose exiguous regard for concert convention has seen him stage such anomalous spectacles as the late barefoot confetti-filled Handel’s Messiah, dismantles the recital formula once more for this inimitable performance, a dramatic and intensely rhythmic interpretation of William of Rubruck’s failed 13th-century mission to convert the Great Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) to christianity in the Mongol capital, Karakorum.
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, La Camera Delle Lacrime and David Wenham. Imges: Steven Godbee
The action is presented by David Wenham, narrating with ecclesiastical deference as he recites passages from William of Rubruck’s travel diary. Rubruck’s peaceful journey from Constantinople is brought to life by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and La Camera Delle Lacrime, who collaborate harmoniously, both musically and theatrically, through the medieval sounds of Central Asia, and sporadically excite with their capacities as all-round performers.
Karakorum encompasses the lesser-heard Gregorian and Sufi chants, Buddhist hymns and Bacchanalian dance, led by La Camera Delle Lacrime’s venerable expert stylistic interpreter Bruno Bonhoure.
It was a thrill to hear live such instruments as the erhu, the hurdy-gurdy (a crank-turned string instrument generally thought to have originated in Europe or the Middle East before the eleventh century) the kamancheh (an Iranian bowed string instrument, ancestor to the European string family) and the cornamuse (a double-reed instrument dating to the Renaissance period).
It was an equal thrill to behold the sheer dexterity of these multi-instrumentalists, many of whom managed movement and dance simultaneously with remarkable precision, fluidity and apparent ease. A highlight of the 80 minutes was the wonderful surprise of Yan Li’s transition from erhu-playing to glorious vocalisations.
Thematically, Karakorum takes on a great deal, more than can be addressed in 80 minutes of music. The great questions of faith, the rigidity of religious tensions and the idealistic fancies of a monk who lived long ago are over pronounced. The innate human desire to understand one another, to live peacefully with one another, which in history is so frequently overwritten by the battles and wars, is given attention in the legend of the monk William of Rubruck. In Karakorum, his story, his essence, was somewhat lost in the grandeur of his theological context.
This collaboration of Brandenburg and La Camera Delle Lacrime is a rare opportunity to see masters of the medieval world of music at work, and certainly to be added to Dyer’s extensive list of accomplishments.
Karakorum: A Medieval Musical Journey played at City Recital Hall, Angel Place Sydney until August 3, Melbourne Recital Centre on August 4 and 5, and Brisbane’s QPAC August 7 at 7:30pm.
