A piece for live cello/performer, pre-recorded celli and multi-channel electroacoustic tape. Composed by Hilario Flores-Coni and performed by Hortense Airault.
“Are we alone on stage when performing solo?” In an attempt to illustrate an answer to this question, the cellist is given the challenge to interact with and materialise some (only some) of the infinite, parallel possibilities of her and her instrument that are accompanying them on stage throuoghout this piece. In order to begin this attempt, hours of pre-recorded pizzicato samples made with her instrument in different tunings are shuffled… and brought back to life through two imaginary celli above the cellist’s head played live, enabling her to interact with her own past-self, and with somewhat distorted past, different versions of her cello. As the piece evolves, she will begin to discover that other, underlying alternative possibilities of her and solo-performance are at play, and not all necessarily under her control… She will begin to wonder, in a similar manner to the main character in Borges’ “Las ruinas circulares” (The circular ruins) (whose title inspires the title of the piece) whether she is a part of somebody else’s dream; an alternate version of one of her other selves, performing a bizarre version of this very same piece.
“Un solo circular” was written between november 2023 and January 2024 for Hortense Airault, who actively collaborated with ideas for cello effects, specific notation, overall concept and mise en scene. The piece was premiered by her at the HEM in Geneva, Switzerland, in February 2024.