If I were asked to fit “The Curse” by Agnes Obel into a suitable setting like putting libretto to melody, I would probably not have chosen the stark and classical hall of the Heimathafen Neukölln theater, but on the outside atop of the Gherkin or the Shard or the Burj Khalifa in some cubist visual construct. Of course, I’d also use it as the background music to the commercial of some black, sleek, ultra-modern apogee of German engineering.
I’m not trying to cheapen the music in any way – that the tempo and structure produced by a violin, cello, and an opened piano can be toned down to match 3 separate voices is quite amazing. Well, pardon my shallow touch with reality, but just seeing someone able to play violin AND sing simultaneously was a rarity to me. The melody is evenhanded and decorated with smooth singing. Lest you think this is some elvish chanting, it is resoundingly modern. I can just imagine them accelerating to Beethoven speed, but that’s for another day.