tracks

Charisma X

notes

Made & Printed in USA

Charisma X follows the life of Iannis Xenakis from childhood through his final composition, Omega. Musicologist Makis Solomos guides us through Xenakis’ key periods and accomplishments interspersed with musical performances and comments from those who knew or worked with Xenakis, giving an overview of his personal life and careers in music and architecture.

Xenakis appears in historical footage:
- Talking about his multimedia electronic work La Legende d’Eer, with film of the performance and the Diatope in front of the Pompidou Centre.
- Demonstrating the UPIC, the computer which he designed that allows music to be drawn on a computer screen.
- Speaking about his opera Oresteia and various Greek legends which influenced his work.

It explores the relationship between his music and architecture, including working for Le Corbusier.

Charisma X explores his architectural achievements of the Philips Pavilion at Expo 58, the convent of La Tourette, his home in Corsica, and the houses he designed for his daughter Makhi and composer Mache are shown.

Synopsis: This is a documentary film on the life and work of the composer Iannis Xenakis, the “architect of sound”,whose visionary work reconciles art with science.The film develops in such a way to show how Xenakis’s philosophy, architectural experience, mathematics and political background morph into music and how physical phenomena are transformed into musical expression.
Iannis Xenakis’ multidimensional work is presented through excerpts of his musical compositions, his architectural work, his interviews and archive material from “Oresteia” and “Polytopes”, the grand spectacles of sound and light. The camera follows musicians who perform, specifically for this film, Xenakis’s works such as “Nomos”,“Alpha”, “Charisma”, “Naama” and “Keren” at Delphoi, La Tourette Convent and his house in Paris.

credits

Cello – Christophe Roy
Cello, Interviewee – Frances-Marie Uitti
Clarinet – Lori Freedman
Composed By, Interviewee, Speech – Iannis Xenakis
Film Director – Efi Xirou
Film Producer – Gina Petropoulou
Harpsichord, Interviewee – Elisabeth Chojnacka
Interviewee – Curtis Roads, François-Bernard Mâche, Françoise Xenakis, Georges Aperghis, Gerard Pape, Makis Solomos, Mâkhi Xenakis, Roviros Manthoulis, Sharon Kanach, Giorgos Koumendakis,
Percussion – Sylvio Gualda
Trombone – Benny Sluchin
Voice – Spyros Sakkas

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