MEDIATHEK

Part staged performance, part concept album, Folie à Deux is a lyrical and intense investigation into love and loneliness in a relationship. Folie à Deux is a collaboration between British composer Emily Hall, Icelandic writer Sjón and features vocals from Swedish jazz artist Sofia Jernberg and Icelandic tenor Finnur Bjarnason.

The idea for the narrative was triggered by a conversation between Emily Hall and Dr Lisa Conlan, a Psychiatrist at London’s Maudsley Hospital, about a rare psychotic syndrome known as folie à deux - in which symptoms of a delusional belief are transmitted from one individual to another.

The intricately crafted songs are woven together for two singers, an acoustic harp and an electro-magnetic harp. This newly created instrument uses vibrating magnets to evoke an underlying electronic presence representing the pylon – the third character that presides over this story.

The striking image of a harp with wires attached creates a powerful visual analogy to the pylon. This is emphasised by a new lighting technique developed with Lighting Designer Dan Large, which uses a projector as the main source of light and responds live to the sounds and movements of the performers.

Against a backdrop of responsive light and sound, the result is a hauntingly beautiful soundscape which takes its influences from many musical idioms ranging classical, jazz, pop and folk.

“On this monochrome stage cut with thin beams of grey light Jernberg and Bjarnason conjure a world of doomed love, murder and loss. Jernberg's vocal performance is stunning, a voice that can go from soulful pop song to operatic in an instant... an odd musical fairy tale, a love song gone wrong.” The Quietus

The production premiered at Borealis Festival, Bergen in partnership with Bergen National Opera in March 2015, followed by performances in Stockholm, Winchester, Aldeburgh and Spitalfields Music Summer Festival, London. Further performances in 2015 are planned including the London Jazz Festival. The piece will be released as a studio album in July 2015 by the record label Bedroom Community. Download the album here http://www.bandcamp.com/yum, using 667b-35md.

Mahogany Opera Group is one of the UK’s leading independent opera companies. We create new opera in new ways, in different spaces and places throughout the UK and internationally. Drawing on a range of cultural influences, art forms and technologies we aim to stretch the boundaries of what opera can be and who it is for.