Even Barbican regulars might not be familiar with the Conservatory, a Kew Gardens-style haven of greenery that straddles the top two floors of this arts centre. It’s usually used only for private events but this gig, curated by Gabriel Prokofiev’s events promoter Nonclassical, invites 200 people to wander around for two hours while a dozen or so musicians play in various parts of the space.
The Conservatory is a vast, echoey greenhouse, with lots of ambient noise, and it suits some of tonight’s more clamorous compositions. The Abstruckt quartet play an ebullient version of Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood and some thumpy pieces by David Lang and Andy Akiho for tuned percussion and assorted metal utensils, the sound of which bounce out from around the top terrace. The American sculptor and double bassist Marcus Vergette performs Tintinnabulation, where he and a pianist play a rather beautiful, atonal, written-through composition, one that ripples and resonates with the clattering of four enormous metal bells which Vergette has created.
Vergette’s piece is apparently about protecting endangered bird species, while Carola Bauckholt’s Doppelbelichtung (Double Exposure) continues this theme with an intriguing duet for violin and recorded birdsong, brilliantly performed by Linda Jankowska using a variety of creaks, harmonics and high-pitched playing. The environmental theme that was supposed to unify this concert was sometimes a little clumsy: Claudia Molitor’s Polymer Hauntings, a wonky, lopsided duet for prepared piano, is a parable about single-use plastic, accompanied by rather didactic visuals – the Bösendorfer grand was wreathed in bubble wrap and litter which was then integrated into the composition. More compelling was a performance of Nocturne by Hungarian conceptual artist Mátyás Wettl, where the Abstruckt quartet banged out syncopated rhythms on the light switches of 16 lamps while the lights flashed on and off. It’s the kind of novel, theatrical, slightly insane site-specific piece that works particularly well at a “happening” like this.
