Silent Films in the Atrium
Cinema in the atrium of the HfG! The duo saiLento, consisting of pianist Reiko Emura and percussionist Shinichi Minami, will provide the musical accompaniment to the silent film A Page of Madness (1926) by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Supporting film: Hands: The Life and Love of a Tender Sex (1928) by Stella F. Simon. The themed evening will be accompanied by pieces by Wolfgang Rihm, Toru Takemitsu, Robert Schumann and Tom Johnson.
In cooperation with the Department of Media Art/Sound and Lorenz Schwarz, the format of silent film soundtracks, which we have long appreciated and cultivated in the Blauer Salon, will be taken to the next level. True to the HfG motto “Think Big”, we are taking the cinema screen into the atrium of the HfG to once again showcase the acoustics and impressive architecture of the building and offer our musical guests the stage they deserve.
Reiko Emura (piano) and Shinichi Minami (percussion) studied at the Karlsruhe University of Music. They give numerous concerts together; classical, jazz, contemporary music, including their own compositions and improvisations. Their passion for improvisation led them to accompany silent films. Their first joint performance was at the Karlsruhe Silent Film Festival in 2017 together with film narrator Ichiro Kataoka, where TAKI NO SHIRAITO (The White Threads of the Waterfall) was set to music. This was followed by S.O.S. DIE INSEL DER TRÄNEN, ROMEO UND JULIA IM SCHNEE, WENN VIER DASSELBE TUN and DIE HEIMKEHR DES ODYSSEUS. In summer 2020, they performed at “Toujours Kultur!” and accompanied 11 short films by Georges Méliès and Segundo de Chomón, including THE JOURNEY TO THE MOON and THE HEN WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS.