Well, this is pleasantly familiar.
Anyone who has seen Nils Frahm live before would be used to witnessing complete and utter ambient perfection. If you want to know if I enjoyed his latest sojourn down to Sydney Opera House, that’s the only sentence you need.
Because it’s mighty difficult to describe just how staggering Frahm’s live performances are. The Concert Hall is a spaceship, as it was when the 42-year-old German was last here for Vivid Sydney in 2022. I get a woozy dose of Déjà vu when I shuffle into the Dress Circle, my eyes darting across the innumerous amount of equipment on stage, some with rusted, war-ready patinas and others looking new and glamourous.
Frahm’s custom-made smorgasbord of sound is hard to wrap your head around. Squint and you can even spot a glass harmonica in the midst of a sea of synths, drum machines, custom-made Arduino boxes, pianos, switches and pedals. This density of close mic’d acoustic instruments sitting side-by-side with all types of electronics is a gauntlet for the worldly producer, who typically plays at the very centre of two polarities: ambient and neoclassical.
Just a week after neoclassical master Max Richter performed on the same stage, Frahm continues the house’s excellent programming of deep, contemplative music maestros that still sit largely obscured from the commercial crowd.
During Richter’s recent show, he mentioned that his work is about exploring polarities before he proceeded to pull together classical and contemporary by employing several forms of expression. Frahm is similar in that sense, but while Richter has perfected melancholic neoclassical music to help you explore your subconscious, Frahm is better equipped at mastering both sides of the spectrum.
But even before the masterful musician is to take the stage, the performance is set in stone by support act Ganavya. The Tamil vocalist was accompanied by harpist Miriam Adefris and made the most of her short 30-minute set. Ever-so-charming, the New York-based vocalist encouraged the crowd to soar to the skies with her as she floated over Adefris’ gentle, soul-stirring music. An unexpected but memorable start to the show.
Frahm is an affable, arrestingly casual man as he jogs out on stage and runs from left to right, waving enthusiastically to the crowd and remarking how different the Concert Hall feels now after its recent, acoustic-driven refurbishment.
But like a man on a mission, he largely lets the music speak for itself. He starts by moving slowly between his two stations, steadily pulling together those polarities to create a 20-minute masterpiece that feels like forever. So captivating and passionate is Frahm as he gifts us a peek into his creative process, clearly expressing the weight and texture of each sound before he pulls them together into gigantic, hypnotic walls.
Sometimes they lean towards ambient electronica, sometimes he looks like a mad man striking his piano and demanding its emotions. All are intimate and grand, even interactive at one point when he encourages the sold-out Concert Hall to become part of the show.
“Make animal noises,” he instructs the crowd as people proceed to imitate all kinds of creatures. I hear a hyena behind me, a cow in front of me, and what appears to be a sea lion. It all comes across messy but Frahm records the mess in real-time, proceeding to tame the mess by manipulating it on his PC and making it a motif that reappears in different forms.
After each song crashes into nothingness, Frahm appears in the middle of the stage and wipes copious amounts of sweat from his face. It may not look like much work, but his agile, rapid movements between various stations makes Frahm one of the hardest working musicians I’ve ever seen live.
Building fleeting moments into big, muscular walls of sound is Frahm’s schtick, but pay close attention and you can hear just how exacting this man is about tiny details and weighty nuances. Nils Frahm is a technician. Possibly music’s most prodigiously instinctive one. And for that, the seemingly endless standing ovation couldn’t be more deserved.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Feature image credited to Ken Leanfore.
Nils Frahm will continue his Australian tour with remaining shows in Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne. All information can be found on his website.
