NFOP Recommends: Rauschen w/ Gebrüder Teichmann

31 Mar 2014 — Henning Lahmann

Fusing however conceived “classical” music with any variation of pop is a delicate affair, all too often settling for a middle ground that is nothing more than a sad cliché of either world (violins! grandeur! guitars! roughness!), unnecessary at best and the epitome of proto-romanticist kitsch at worst (examples abound and therefore omitted, thank me). Now don't get me wrong. There are, of course, ways to do it right, and if successful, the result may not simply provide for an entertaining night but indeed open up new perspectives on the subject matter, and alter our stagnant perceptions of both pop and "serious" music. The latest attempt to legitimise the notion while avoiding its inherent traps and pitfalls comes from two classically trained Hamburg musicians, pianist Anne von Twardowski and cellist Sonja Lena Schmid. Their upcoming concert series Rauschen aspires to convince all sceptics by taking up a more progressive and uncommon stance: Instead of an obvious amalgamation of the two worlds, the night will instead start with the duo's unaltered interpretation of a piece of chamber music – this time, Sergej Rachmaninov's 1901 Cello Sonata in G minor – before their guests, Berlin electronic luminaries Gebrüder Teichmann, join in, sampling and then re-contextualising elements of von Twardowski's and Schmid's performance by way of improvisation. The subsequent live interaction with the acoustic rendition will gradually be transformed into the Teichmanns' own set, ultimately opening up the dancefloor. This intended seamless integration of the sonically rather polar opposites surely sounds like quite an ambitious venture, yet without doubt promising to be so much more compelling than, say, Metallica ruining the San Francisco Symphony (and vice versa), and is thus warmly recommended by us.

The debut edition of Rauschen will take place at Nachtasyl in Hamburg this Friday, April 4, starting at 10.30pm. Watch the official trailer below, find more details on Facebook and get tickets over here.