PRAGUE MODERN

Švandovo divadlo

January 18

A formidable player with chops across three genres.

More performance art than music, Tuesday night’s Prague Modern concert featured none of the usual members of the ensemble. Instead, German bass player John Eckhardt brought his battered double bass from Hamburg to join the local electronic duo Birds Build Nests Underground and projectionist Martin Ježek for an evening of...well, noise. But very interesting and entertaining noise.

Eckhardt, who started his career as an electric bass player in funk bands, moved on to acoustic jazz bass and then classical training before immersing himself in modern music. He’s played with groups such as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern and musikFabrik NRW, and recorded extensively, most recently a solo release titled Xylobiant. All these influences surface during his solo performances, which are often accompanied by projections or other visuals.

Were one to hear an Eckhardt solo recording without knowing what it was, it would be impossible to imagine a lone musician wringing such an astonishing variety of sounds out of a single instrument. In the solo half of his Prague performance, he started with long, low growls and grunts, worked his way down the neck to squeals, cranked up the volume to chain saw-intensity and took it down to silent passes of the bow. He played everywhere and everything you can possibly play on a double bass to get a noise out of it, including some virtuoso work on the strings below the bridge, using his fingers and the screw end of the bow. At one point Eckhardt even broke into a straight-ahead jazz improv run, as if to show he can play “normal” music, too – and very well.

The second half of the concert was a jam session of sorts, with Petr Ferenc and Michal Brunclík manning their laptops and turntables to create a field of noise for Eckhardt to improvise against, and Ježek adding a visual equivalent with multiple projectors showing overlapping abstract images. With the stage completely dark and the three musicians off to the side to make room for the screen, it was impossible to watch them work together. And the sound was so dense, it was difficult to discern individual elements.

But it worked. The Birds duo is good at weaving layers of snaps, crackles, pops, scratches, sirens, voices and other random noises into a single organic sound that gradually builds to an electronic thunderstorm. In the seeming chaos, there are structures and riffs and enough changes to keep a careful listener engaged, and Eckhardt provided a steady anchor with deep, droning bass notes. The visuals were not terribly interesting – blurred winter trees, a carpentry instruction film – but Ježek showed himself to be a master of his trade, employing stop frames, slo-mo, multiple images, split-screen and other techniques, all at a rapid clip.

The effect was exhilarating. Soundscapes like this are difficult to pull off, especially in amateur hands. But Eckhardt is a real musician who brings intelligence and integrity to his work, along with considerable imagination. It’s not for everyone. But if you open your ears and mind, it can take you interesting places. And pairing him with Czech performers added some local spice to the mix that went down well.

If Eckhardt were playing at a beatnik coffee house in the 1950s, where he would fit in very well, he would be called a hep cat. That’s not a bad description of him today, either.

For more on John Eckhardt: http://www.myspace.com/eckhardtjohn

Prague Modern schedule: http://www.praguephilharmonia.cz/en/concert-series/s-modern-and-contemporary-music-series-2010-2011.html

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Gareth Jones

January 17

When superstar singer Bryn Terfel takes the stage at Obecní dům Thursday night, the man charged with giving him the musical showcase and support he needs will be a fellow Welshman, conductor Gareth Jones. A trim, affable man of 50, Jones has been working with Terfel for more than a decade. I caught up with him at the cozy bar of the Imperial Hotel after rehearsals on Tuesday, where he was gracious enough to talk shop over beers.

Keeping the beat for Bryn.

“It’s always a joy,” Jones said of the 50-plus concerts he’s performed with Terfel. “He’s one of the greatest communicators I’ve ever run across.”

By which Jones means, first, that Terfel pays attention to what’s on the page. “He’s completely driven by the text,” the conductor said. “Every sound that he makes comes directly from the text, as opposed to, let’s make a beautiful noise here. Many singers make beautiful noises, but not always with meaning.”

Then there’s the adulation that comes with being an international star. “No matter where we are, from the minute he walks on stage, Bryn has the audience right here,” Jones said, tapping a finger into his palm. “Perversely, that lifts the burden from my shoulders. It makes my job absolutely the easiest thing in the world.”

Onstage, anyway. There’s still the tedium of rehearsals, particularly challenging when one parachutes into town a day or two before a concert to prepare an unfamiliar ensemble – in this case, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra – for a program that ranges from heavyweight classics to Broadway show tunes.

“I usually start with the hardest pieces, to establish that we have to get a certain sound pretty quickly,” Jones said. One of the trickiest selections on Thursday’s program is “Stars” from Claude-Michel Schönberg’s score for Les Miserables. “It’s always a nightmare,” Jones said. “I have to remind the orchestra that it’s meant for a mild voice, sung acoustically, not with a mike.” A bit easier is Hans Sachs’ “Was duftet doch der Flieder” monologue from Wagner’s Meistersinger. “That’s a joy to do with Bryn,” Jones said. “It could have been written for him – it’s perfect for his voice.”

While this will be Jones’ first appearance on a podium in Prague, he is not new to Czech music or orchestras. Two years ago, he conducted the Prague Philharmonia in an appearance with Rolando Villazón in Paris. “Totally fantastic,” he said of his experience with the Philharmonia. Jones also had the good fortune to study under Sir Charles Mackerras at the Welsh National Opera from 2001-04, where they staged productions of Janáček’s Jenůfa, Kaťa Kabanova and The Cunning Little Vixen.

“If you’re going to assist somebody, it might as well be the best,” Jones said of his time with Mackerras. “He was an absolutely astonishing man to work with. And Janáček has such a unique sound. The first time I heard Kaťa Kabanova, I had no idea where the rhythms were going. But the music is incredibly beautiful. What I’d love to do now is House of the Dead.”

The schedule for this concert is relatively relaxed, with time for four rehearsals over two days. Jones said he probably would not take full advantage of them, as he wanted to keep an element of spontaneity. “You can rehearse too much,” he noted. And it sounded like he had already established a personal chemistry with the orchestra. “If you show a degree of trust in the musicians,” he said, “they’ll reward you by playing better.”

Gareth Jones is also the founder and musical director of Sinfonia Cymru, a Welsh chamber orchestra that showcases promising young players. More on that at: http://www.sinfoniacymru.co.uk/