The Thing Like Us

Album Review

Yannis Kyriakides' most ambitious release since his ConSPIracy Cantata (using number stations recordings from the Conet Project collection), The Thing Like Us is an absorbing collaboration with the theater group VeenFabriek. It calls for a very different instrumentation and yet seems to proceed from the same desire found in the ConSPIracy Cantata: to bring together classical (almost antiquated) elements and contemporary composition. This time around, the "time-piece" aspect of the work is found in the harpsichord of Anne Faulborn, the main instrument in this project, and Spinoza's texts, central to the concept of the piece. The original theater production was titled SPINOZA: I am not where I think myself to be. It presented a rereading of Spinoza's Ethics in a post-modern setting. The CD presents two of the three parts of this production. "AFFECTION: The 48 Emotions" (33 minutes) is scored for alto (Ayelet Harpaz), harpsichord (Faulborn) and live electronics (Kyriakides). The piece unfolds in a series of short scenes held together by delicate clicks and cuts-type electronics. The contrast between electronics and the avant-baroque duets between voice and harpsichord goes almost unnoticed, which goes to show how Kyriakides' highly personal musical language is effective. The second work, "EPISTOLA: Letter on Free Will" (41 minutes) adds a percussion part (Tatiana Koleva) and two voices, giving a theatrical dimension to the text (Carola Arons and Bert Luppes). Here, we lose the impression of listening to an art song cycle out of time, as things get closer to the hörspiel: the characters sketch, if not a story, at least levels of drama and mood swings, while the alternating entries and exits of harpsichord, tympany and more vehement electronics create a harsher set of dynamics. Kyriakides' approach brings to mind the ensemble Oscura Luminosa's arrangement of Monteverdi's "Il Combattimento..." (on In Full Armour), although his compositional style is his very own: classy, maybe a little bit too rigid, but certainly inspired. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide