Noisenight10 saw the making of a little bit of history as live music venue OMEARA, a quaint little club/bar tucked under the railway arches of London Bridge, hosted its first classical music night.
For this 10th edition of the Noisenight series it was Latvian violinist Roberts Balanas who would be the star of the show. A highly eclectic, boundary-smashing artist, Roberts fuses classical with elements of pop, rock, soul, funk and beyond, reflecting his diverse musical tastes. This broad palette of influences has led to collaborations with artists ranging from Pink Floyd to Trevor Pinnock, gaining praise from many industry heavyweights (Elton John, Greg James).
The performance was kicked off with a beautiful rendition of Locatelli’s ‘Capriccio for Solo Violin’, allowing Roberts to demonstrate his great technical ability with a piece from a composer he described to the audience as the “original violin freak”.
Following this opening piece, Roberts communicated to the audience that, in the traditional sense, the classical part of the concert was over, as if he had almost used the ‘Capriccio’ to show that he was indeed a serious classical violinist, but was now ready to have some fun.
What came next was a quite brilliant piece which brought some elements of classical violin together with the Pink Floyd albums The Wall and the earlier, more experimental Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Having originally only experimented with The Wall, Roberts later added parts from Piper at the Gates of Dawn to the piece on the request of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. Fans of the Floyd would have certainly enjoyed this clever bit of fusion.
Roberts then moved on to what he described as “one of the maddest pieces I’ve ever heard or played” and the centerpiece of the performance, Steve Reich’s 'Violin Phase'. “You might get dizzy”, “good luck” and “see you on the other side” Roberts told the crowd before kicking off the piece. The piece consists of the same one-bar structure that moves in and out of sync with four different parts, three of which are recorded and the other live. Roberts’ version of Reich’s work lasted over fifteen minutes, once again displaying the violinist’s masterful technique and receiving the biggest round of applause of the night for a singular piece.
The final piece on the traditional violin was another of Roberts’ fused inventions; Bach meets ABBA (obviously). The piece was built around Bach’s ‘Andante from Sonata No. 2 in A minor’ but jumped shamelessly and quite brilliantly between the ‘Andante’ and some of the Swedish pop group’s biggest and best hits, much to the delight of the audience.
The rest of the programme would be played on a six-string electric violin accompanied by two pedals for adding effects, layers and loops. It’s from this point onwards that Roberts’ tastes from outside the classical world really shone through.
The first song on the electric side of the programme was Daniel Caesar’s ‘Best Part’ featuring H.E.R.. This step into the world of soul provided a nice change of pace and the added sonic capabilities of the electric violin made for a nice change in atmosphere.
Following ‘Best Part’ came a selection of pop, rock and even rap anthems for which Roberts used his six-string and pedals to add the various layers. The selection included tracks from Gnarls Barkley (‘Crazy’), Billie Eilish (‘wish you were gay’) and Coldplay (‘Viva la Vida’), but perhaps the most surprising number in the programme was Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’, for which Roberts used his ring to lay down the percussion line, tapping on the body of the violin.
Coldplay - Viva la Vida, Live electric violin loop cover by Roberts Balanas
Roberts BalanasRoberts closed the programme with a true classic in AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’, for which some of the audience provided the percussion with some foot stomps. He exited the stage to rapturous applause and cheers from a deeply satisfied audience.
AC/DC - Back in Black for solo violin by Roberts Balanas
Roberts BalanasThroughout the performance Roberts cultivated a relationship with the audience through his jokeful personality and interactions, but also through the way he explained the background and story behind each piece or song. It was clear that he didn’t just want the audience to appreciate his music, but also understand it, which only served to generate more enthusiasm for the performance. A hugely enjoyable night whatever your tastes!