Manchester Collective, Clark and Melanie Lane – REFRACTIONS – Live Review

25 April 2025

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

*****

Refractions: A Unique Concert Journey Beyond Genres

This Blog has sometimes considered the definition of music beyond the convention that it must contain melody, rhythm, or harmony. Ambient music like Steven Wilson’s Ghosts on Magnetic Tape, which he recorded under the name Bass Communion, challenges our assumptions. Manchester Collective, under their Creative Director, Rakhi Singh, also like to challenge our assumptions, albeit in a different way, by breaking down barriers between musical genres. Their mission statement reads,

To us, music is most powerful when it’s immediate and personal, not bound by convention.

This applies not only to how they present their concerts but also to how they blend musical genres. A good example of this is their recent Sirocco tour, part of their long-term collaboration with the South African cellist Abel Selaocoe, who plays classical cello but also uses his voice to stunning effect in African throat singing.

On Friday evening in Manchester, the Collective completely broke down the barriers between genres, with music performed by a string ensemble led by Singh, electronics by the English musician Clark and dance choreographed by the Australian/Javanese choreographer and performer Melanie Lane.

Although my father, the church organist and choirmaster John Charles Holmes, was born in the 1930s, he would have understood what the Collective is aiming for. He knew little about pop or rock, but musically, he had an open mind – he was a fan of John Peel’s radio show. He once heard a track by electronic dance music pioneers 808 State and perceptively commented that it sounded like Baroque music. On Friday, we heard contemporary electronic music by Clark, seamlessly combined with music of Bach, Beethoven, Hildegard von Bingen, and Picforth. There was also more recent classical music by Britten and Ligeti.

The programme ran as a continuous musical sequence with no interval. There was scattered applause after the first piece, but after that, the audience remained silent until the well-deserved standing ovation at the end. Significantly, the list of pieces played was handed out to the audience after the concert, presumably to avoid preconceptions about the music colouring our perception. One of the joys of the concert was trying to guess who was making the music and where it was coming from, so expertly were the different styles of music blended and contrasted.

Linear time is a story we tell ourselves. But what if we rewrote it? In Refractions, medieval and baroque music crashes against modern electronica. Dancers call upon rituals from both ancient and alien civilisations. 

From manchestercollective.co.uk

Choreographer Melanie Lane bought into the concept through the three dancers, Samantha Hines, Niamh Keeling and Moses Ward. She was inspired by Renaissance paintings, with sometimes violent imagery, and the movement and posture of many of those paintings. She was also inspired by science fiction, how the body might evolve into ‘something other’, and the journey from the Baroque to the modern. The costumes, designed by Don Aretino, were also a mix of the Baroque and the futuristic. There was a stunning example at the end of the concert, when the three dancers came on wearing what appeared to be long dark cloaks of the kind worn in the eighteenth century. As the dancers twisted and turned and spun, the cloaks opened up like flowers, creating an image of great power and beauty.

Elsewhere, the movement of the dancers was deliberately angular and disturbing. It was fascinating that when they first came on, the women facing up to each other, while Moses Ward seemed to exist in his own separate world, there was no music, defying the convention that dance is accompanied by music. Here, dance came first. Later on, the dancers interacted with the musicians, again defying convention. They sat and watched the musicians before they broke into dance, and at one point, one of the musicians tapped the pianist on the shoulder. There was a fantastic coup de théâtre when all three dancers suddenly appeared as a living sculpture in the middle of the musicians, with a brief white spotlight on them. In another scene, they wrapped themselves round each other to create a single living entity. One of them crawled out from under the piano with feral, cat-like movements.

Images by Ingrid Turner

Musically, the concert was a tour de force. It began with gentle electronics that exploded into something more sinister, as dry ice rose ominously from the stage. We then went on a phantasmagoric musical journey, as if in a fever dream. It was impossible to predict where the journey would take us next. There were moments of extreme beauty and serenity, such as the choral Antiphon by Hildegard von Bingen. Later, there was an extended section where it felt as if we were immersed in a horror film. Clark’s electronics were evocative and mesmerising throughout the concert, richly textured and emotive. As usual with the Collective, the standard of musicianship was incredibly high. Special mention should be made of Rakhi Singh, fiercely concentrating as she led the ensemble; the two cellists Nick Trygstad, Peggy Nolan and double bass player Alice Durrant, who provided stunning bass parts to match the electronic basslines; and pianist Junyan Chen whose touch was beautifully even.

It will be fascinating where Manchester Collective take us next, but the depth of imagination in their programming ensures that wherever they go we will want to join them on their musical journey.

Performers

Dancers Samantha Hines, Niamh Keeling, Moses Ward
Electronics Clark
Violin I Rakhi Singh, Martyn Jackson, Marie Schreer, Roman Lytwyniw
Violin II Eva Thorarinsdottir, Will Newell, Lily Whitehurst
Viola Alex Mitchell, Lucy Nolan
Cello Nick Trygstad, Peggy Nolan
Double Bass Alice Durrant
Piano Junyan Chen