Venrooy/Van Haegenborgh (E55) : Entr’acte

Esther Venrooy and Heleen Van Haegenborgh
Mock Interiors CD (E55)

Electronic composer Esther Venrooy and pianist Heleen Van
Haegenborgh’s collaboration explores the synergy of acoustic piano
with electronics and digital sound processing. Their compositions
aim to draw the listener into the inner workings of the piano.
Employing a battery of microphones, resonating elements and
tiny inaudible mechanical sounds are captured, manipulated and
magnified through electronic means, resulting in fragile textures
where the boundaries between electronic and acoustic sound
become blurred.

Heleen Van Haegenborgh (1980, Gent, Belgium) studied piano at
the Gent conservatory with Claude Coppens and Daan Vandewalle,
followd by master classes with Jan Michiels, Boyan Vodenicharov,
Louis Pas, John Tilbury, Luc Vaes, and Claire Chevalier. Her work
attempts to combine new music with extended piano-playing
techniques. A frequent collaborator, she has worked with composer
Thomas Smetryns since 2006; their compositions include works
for piano (and its interior), electric guitar, 78 rpm record players,
and tape. Van Haegenborgh also plays in several improvisation
groups: a trio with Tape Tum (laptop, electric guitar and piano),
and a newly-formed quintet with Guy De Bièvre, Esther Venrooy,
Thomas Smetryns and Xavier Verhelst. She’s also working with
the Hermes Ensemble and playing solo concerts of experimental
music by the likes of James Tenney, John Cage, Alvin Lucier,
and Morton Feldman.

Mock Interiors was presented with a concert at Vooruit, Gent,
on 8 May.

First edition of 300 copies.
£8

Esther Venrooy and Heleen Van Haegenborgh, Gent 2008
Photograph by Katrien Vermeire

Mock Interiors finds Esther Venrooy in the company of fellow
composer and improviser Heleen Van Hagenborgh. The pair
concentrate on short forms — the CD contains 11 tracks —
but the prevailing heartbeat remains slow, and the music is
intense and thoroughly worked. Pianist Van Hagenborgh has
studied with, amongst others, John Tilbury, and it shows
in her timing and touch. But there’s dark Romanticism to her
playing too, best exemplified in the sombre minor harmonies
of Impromptu Dhalia, which Venrooy extends and explores with
the breathtaking precision and sensitivity of a brain surgeon.

Dan Warburton in The Wire
—

I have heard many examples of people combining electronics
with acoustic sources. But there are many ways to fuck that
up. This time it has been done very well.

What we hear is decent microphone recording. A piano playing
four notes. Something gliding over a piano snare length-wise,
then across. Bubbling of water, the creaking of a chair, puffs.
Everything is very well structured [and] in a good tempo.
The balance between electronic and acoustic is really splendid.
All of this not only counts for each track but also for the
complete disc. Themes return, yes, but exactly at the right
moment and with quite interesting variations. Recommended!

Jos Smolders at Earlabs