Michael Nyman, the distinguished British composer of such film soundtracks as "The Draughtsman's Contract" (1982) and "The Piano" (1993) performed in St. Petersburg on 3rd November with the Michael Nyman Band and Marie Angel.

Nyman's distinctive reworking of complex Baroque themes and minimalist, rhythmic scores have earned him a solid following since the 1970s, and he was recently made Commander of the British Empire, one of the U.K.'s highest state honors. Asked how he felt about it in an interview this week with The St. Petersburg Times by telephone from his home in London, Nyman expressed "great pride and cynicism, combined."

Next year to celebrate his 65th birtday, Nyman is rereleasing a lot of his back catalogue, including, he said "the very first Michael Nyman Band album, which very few people have heard; it's been unavailable since 1981."

Nyman's 12-piece band, with whom he has performed for the last 15 years, is comprised of three saxophonists, three brass instrumentalists, a string quartet, a piano and bass. For Sunday's concert at the Shostakovich Philharmonic, the group plans to perform works from recent releases on Nyman's label including "8 Lust Songs" and "Mozart 252" — a compilation that includes what Nyman calls his signature tune, "In Re Don Giovanni," and music from the Peter Greenaway film "Drowning by Numbers" (1988).

News source: http://www.sptimes.ru
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