After seeing Neil Brand’s fascinating
performance, I doubt if anybody in the audience will view film
musical accompaniment as nothing less than a serious art form. Neil
Brand is a highly accomplished pianist and his show is a celebration
of the skill required to enhance and interpret silent films.
He demonstrates using clips of legends of
silent comedy such as Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy plus a piece
of French slapstick from a century ago to show how vital the music
was to make the comedy live – and it still does. A Douglas
Fairbanks action film also shows the art of building up tension.
Delightful little anecdotes link the film
selections to reveal the improvisation that is required, as on the
occasion when he was playing the music to accompany a dramatic fire
scene of a film he hadn’t seen before. Thinking it might last a
few minutes of intensive playing, it lasted for 25 minutes.
He plays a little game taking a German film
showing scenes set in a park with some young people and inviting the
audience by show of hand to direct how he should play the music when
the subsequent action could either be menacing or romantic.
There is an educational aspect to Neil
Brand’s approach, but this is a show which is never ever dull and
you are in the company of a master of art and technique.
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