Solem Quartet NNF 2023
I cannot believe that it was the tenth night of the 2023 Norfolk & Norwich Festival and I still had not visited the Adnams Spiegeltent, that curious wood and canvas construction which springs up in the corner of Chapelfield Gardens in May and remains for the duration of the Festival. It hosts a wide variety of events during its stay - tea dances and circus, cabaret and literature, and some wonderfully eclectic late evening sessions. But, in all the years that I have attended the Festival, I don't ever recall anything as powerful and moving as last night's performance by the Solem Quartet of Steve Reich's 1988 masterpiece of minimalism, 'Different Trains'.
I mean, it's not as if the Spiegeltent hasn't done eclectic before. I've seen some really good jazz acts perform there in the past, and last year's show by Sean Shibe was absolutely electric, but within its circular structure, with mirrored alcoves surrounding the wooden floor, and topped by its billowing canvas roof, could the pathos and desperate irony of 'Different Trains' really make its horrors felt? It was certainly a brave decision by one of the UK's brightest artistic voices, Solem Quartet, to attempt it as part of their residency at this year's Festival. The performance would then be followed by their string quartet arrangement of Kate Bush songs, when they would be joined by London jazz vocalist Alice Zawadzki.
I must admit, I had my reservations. The lighting seemed wrong, the smoke machine was billowing, and the bar at the back was doing a roaring trade before Solem Quartet appeared on stage. But, as violinist Amy Tress began to address the audience, explaining the history and construction of the piece, the atmosphere suddenly became focused and attentive. She explained how the programme had been put together – how Kate Bush and Steve Reich have, in very different ways, remained such a huge reminder of 1980's music; and how 'Different Trains' was conceived and written by Reich to contrast train journeys he had taken as a child in the early 1940's between New York and Los Angeles, whilst Jews in Germany were being forced onto very different trains.
The performance was powerful, moving and masterful, the playing of Amy Tress and fellow quartet members (William Newell - violin, Stephen Upshaw – viola, and Stephanie Tress – cello) coalescing hauntingly as they accompanied Reich's taped interview fragments, their instruments mimicing and repeating the vocal patterns of Holocaust survivor interviewees, and the recorded train noises. It was the first time that I had experienced 'Different Trains' live, and it is a memory that will stay with me for a very long time.
I wish that I could gush as effusively about the second half of the programme. After all, Kate Bush was an enigmatic figure whose influence and impact cannot be overstated, and it was a brave decision by Solem Quartet to arrange her songs for a chamber ensemble. And the arrangements are truly beautiful – one track, 'And Dream of Sheep', appears as an instrumental on their new album 'The Four Quartets'. But an essential part of this project is that it had to work alongside the vocalist, and I am afraid that Alice Zawadzki just did not impress me in the Spiegeltent tent last night. I don't know whether she was trying to sound too much like Kate Bush, or whether she was unwilling to allow the music to get past her stage presence, but the result steered too far away from contemporary innovation and dangerously towards cabaret tribute act.
The songs that Solem chose to rearrange were classics – startng with 'Cloudbusting', then moving on to 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes', the lesser-known 'Jig of Life', and then that one instrumental number. We resume with 'This Woman's Work' (from 'The Sensual World'), 'Hounds of Love', and finished with 'Running Up That Hill' (where the hell was Alan Partridge when we needed him?).
How different this second half of this show could have been if a jazz singer with a completely different vocal range and style could have been persuaded to collaborate in the project – Stacey Kent, Claire Martin and Jacqui Dankworth are just three names that sprang to my mind - each could have contributed an entirely different tone and dimension to the performance.
For me, 'Different Trains' certainly made this a night to remember. If only the rest of the show had delivered the same sense of impact and occasion, then perhaps I would not have left wishing that I had got off a couple of stations earlier than I did.
