On March 3, the Basel Sinfonietta presents »#Metoo, Hitchcock«, the world premiere of a new film score by Moritz Eggert for Alfred Hitchcock’s silent film classic »Blackmail«.
It will be conducted by new Principal Conductor Titus Engel, whose October debut in Basel and two guest appearances at the Ruhrtriennale in Bochum drew rave reviews and sold-out houses. The premiere will take place as part of the 3rd subscription concert at Burghof Lörrach (Germany). The concert will be recorded as a co-production with ZDF/ARTE and 2eleven music film and broadcast on ARTE at a later date.
«Blackmail» is a 1929 British thriller, masterfully directed by Alfred Hitchcock. With a remarkably topical subject, Hitchcock tells a true #metoo story in this classic silent film set in the context of the time. He has his main character successfully fight against various forms of male intrusiveness and blackmail – in powerful images that remain compelling to this day.
Moritz Eggert, the self-proclaimed »Bad Boy of New Music«, mercilessly targets the stereotypes of New Music and takes great pleasure in satirizing them. For Hitchcock’s classic, he has written a deliberately humorous and, above all, emotional »from the gut« score, but one that also develops an artistic independence and pays homage to the film composer Bernhard Herrmann, whom Eggert deeply admires.
“»Blackmail« displays Hitchcock’s predilection for »musical« cuts, which actually have a rhythm of their own and already evoke the later cinematic style without the music having existed yet. Writing a new score for a Hitchcock film therefore has to be be based on this style in some way; it would almost be a perversion to underlay it all with a generic New Music aesthetic that bears no relation to Hitchcock’s intentions and only vaguely illustrates everything” – sais Moritz Eggert
“I’m very much looking forward to the premiere of Moritz Eggert’s music for »Blackmail«. The score that has just been handed over to me, always a wonderful moment before a premiere, is a very finely crafted score with special timbres such as the cimbalon and a quarter-tone keyboard, lots of rhythmic drive and harmonic tension. It was composed to fit the film with great precision, without simply illustrating it. Moritz Eggert’s music lends a new sonic dimension to this cinematic masterpiece, allowing it to be experienced in a completely new way.” – stated Titus Engel
With »#Metoo, Hitchcock«, the Basel Sinfonietta continues its film music tradition. In 2007, the recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s reconstructed original music for the 1931 silent film »Odna – Alone« by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg Odna was released in collaboration with ARTE. This was followed in 2011 by Shostakovich’s film music for the 1929 film »New Bayblon« on the Naxos label. In its first collaboration with Moritz Eggert, the Basel Sinfonietta opens a new chapter in this tradition.
