University News Last updated 13 November
Opera album, Sonata for Broken Fingers, comes out today (Friday 14 November). Written by Head of Composition Professor Joe Cutler with libretto by Max Hoehn, the album is based loosely on the story of the legendary Soviet pianist Maria Yudina and her role in a secret recording for Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
According to urban myth, Radio Moscow received a call from Stalin asking for an orchestral recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23. Rather than admitting the performance had never been recorded, musicians including Maria Yudina hurriedly gathered in the middle of the night to recreate the piece from scratch.
Sonata of Broken Fingers is a 70-minute “claustrophobic thriller”, created with an ensemble of seven instruments and recorded at the Conservatoire. The album was produced by Head of Music Technology Dr Simon Hall with the support of the technical team James Abel and Joe Hockford.
The album was commissioned by Opera21, a laboratory for the development of new opera, and produced by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the Conservatoire’s record label Birmingham Record Company.
Joe Cutler said: “This is a project in which collaboration is central, and something that we could have only done in Birmingham. It brings together the fantastic music technology department at RBC with Birmingham Record Company and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
I think what’s interesting about this piece is that there’s a dark humour to it but underneath that, the story is very profound, exploring the meaning and power of music in a terrifying world.”
Listen to a teaser for the album here, and order the album here.