Communication in the dark

The Ensemble Sentiere Selvaggi performs Georg Friedrich Haas’ 3rd String Quartet, In iij. Noct., tonight at the Teatro Elfo Puccini in Milan.

The work is performed in complete darkness, preferably with all doors and even the emergency lighting covered up. It is at first a very disconcerting thing, simply because we very rarely experience total darkness.

What might seem like a gimmick though has a dramatic effect on the musician’s performance – playing as they are required to do from memory and communicating purely through the music itself – as well as on our perception of the music.