Emociones Vocales del Futuro – Avant-garde vocalisation at it's finest

“Emociones vocales del futuro” is a project by VocaalLab, the Netherlands based international workspace for avant-garde vocal music; collaborating with the Teatro Real and the CMDC with an international group of exciting young singers, this unusual workshop concluded with a set of performances in the Sala Gayarre at the top of Madrid's Teatro Real.
More than just a musical anthology of contemporary vocal music showcasing new talent, “Emociones vocales del futuro” is a strong piece of performance art which stands alone. With modern classics such as Schönberg's “Der buch der Hängenden gärten” and Kagel's “Turm zu Babel”, a libretto translated from a Biblical fragment into various languages, performed in: English, French, Dutch, Greek and Hebrew; but also includes the work of contemporary composers such as Hungary's György Kurtág and the Spanish Álvaro Martínez León, performed in conjunction with movement, creative staging and intense expression.
The first act sets the scene for a party: the singers sport champagne glasses and elegant attire with the concert piano as the social hub. The performance leads you in slowly to the familiar grounds of traditional opera staging, where motion is generic and limited to embraces and dramatic strolls across the stage; but the dynamic evolves as random movements become prevalent and choreographed sign language flows into a sexual and maddened frenzy. Traditional vocal techniques expand using motion of the body with a conscious ability to enhance and constrict sound to push the limitations of the human voice further. The singers display their versatile talent with acrobatic contortions and sensual motion; a departure from the traditional statuesque poses taken up by most classical singers, exampled by the multi-talented Laura Bohn who belts out Schönberg with a great virtuosity, before crawling up the wall like an inverted arachnid. The act climaxes as the singers propel the grand piano across the floor into the doorway behind the stage, swinging and climbing from it with bacchanal intoxication.



A mental institution stages the next act, allowing absolute free reign in the anything goes territory. Vocal experimentation goes beyond standard singing to explore the uncharted art form breathing, clicking and throat singing. Motion still dominates as spanish soprano Carolina Barca gives a breathtaking rendition of Luciano Berio's Sequenza III, with the voice amplified, distorted and controlled using the cupping of the hands and the positions of the body in fluid movements projecting madness. Frantic insanity is coupled later with the short, post-modern brevity of the Hungarian piece “Tandoori-leider” composed by Kurtág and with a passionate performance by Bolivian lyric-soprano, Sara Sabag, accompanied by a haunting lone violin. “Le voisin d'en face” by Spanish composer Álvaro Martínez León closes the performance as a complete departure from classical singing, as an exploration of breathing and moans in the context of music, exploding like orgy in an asylum, going above and beyond the usual vocal expectations and cutting all boundaries and performed a cappella.
Individual pieces from various composers in several languages linked together by effective staging, with an excellent range and talent of singers who not only give a stunning vocal rendition but also breathtaking choreography and raw expression makes “Emociones vocales del futuro” a unique show. At times, some things appear gratuitous, which is a common pitfall in art with an edge, fortunately while some of the choreography seemed random, the majority was not without meaning. As with all avant-garde work, this project is an acquired taste and best suited to those seeking an experience which lingers on the fringes of modernity and convention. “Emociones vocales del futuro” is not an opera nor a recital, but a multimedia of art forms.