Up-Close - for solo cello, string ensemble and film

A+solo+cellist+begins+with+a+melancholy%2C+yet+insistent+soliloquy.+As+the+string+orchestra+behind+her+joins+in%2C+an+image+suddenly+appears+on+screen.+In+the+middle+of+a+deserted+concert+stage%2C+laid+out+exactly+as+for+the+concerto%2C+we+see+an+elderly+woman%2C+scribbling+coded+messages+on+sheets+of+paper.%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3EPart+cello+concerto%2C+part+film+opera%2C+Michel+van+der+Aa%26rsquo%3Bs+Up-close+explores+the+human+condition+through+reflected+and+overlapping+sounds%2C+images+and+plotlines.+The+actions+of+the+woman+and+the+cellist+come+closer+and+closer+until+at+the+end+they+mimic+one+another%2C+without+ever+completely+connecting.+Images+and+music+leak+from+screen+to+stage+and+back+again+in+a+poetic+exploration+of+the+rituals+of+communication.%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3EThemes+of+virtual+reality+and+plural+identities+have+been+present+in+Van+der+Aa%26rsquo%3Bs+music+for+ten+years.+In+Up-close+he+goes+even+further%2C+folding+sound+and+screen+over+and+over+on+themselves+until+certainty+slips+completely+from+our+grasp.