VIFF Review: süden

süden
Vancity Theatre
Sunday, September 28 2008 1:15pm

This documentary is an account of the Argentinean born conductor and composer Mauricio Kagel's first concert appearance in his birth land in over 40 years. Kagel has spent most of his professional career and life in Germany, but a recording of the Ensemble Süden (named after one of his pieces) performing his works impresses him so much that he returns to Buenos Aires to perform with them.

The film focuses mainly on the rehearsal process for the concert. It is an intensive week leading up to the concert. Kagel pulls the best out of the young musicians with candor, and precise direction. The music is evocative and modern with interesting color. There is some unusual instrumentation including the use of dropped books, ripping pages, horns, bells, and vocal sounds. A baritone and a mezzo-soprano also join the ensemble with singing and spoken parts.

One of the pieces entitled 24.xii.1931 is a symphony of the day of Kagel's birth. From the short excerpts in the film it seems to be a dark but subversive piece with the concept that each movement is about the world events on that day. There is an unflattering portrayal of a pompous Japanese general leading the Japanese invasion of China. The military ridicule continues in a funny portrait of drunken Nazis stumbling through the night.

In addition to the concert pieces there is also a conceptual art piece Protest Action for 111 Bicyclists. With their voices, bicycle horns, and bells, each bicyclist has a part to perform as they ride past the audience outside the concert hall in a parade reminiscent of the monthly Critical Mass protest rides through downtown Vancouver.

There is an unusual side trip to the dentist with mezzo-soprano Klara Csordas. She needs to have a filling reattached. There is a communication problem as she does not speak Spanish so they use French. The dentist advises her problem is more serious, and that she requires a root canal. She puts that off of course since would stop her from singing.

It is fortunate that this film was made because Kagel passed away earlier this month on September 10, 2008. But it leaves several questions unanswered. Why did he stay away from Argentina for so many years? What inspired his compositions? What drew the members of the Ensemble Süden to Kagel's works?