bBorn in Lower Saxony in 1966 and raised in Bedford, Max Richter is an award-winning classical composer. Working in live performance, film, dance, art and fashion, she has released nine solo albums, including 2015. sleepAn eight and a half hour work on the neuroscience of sleep; 2020 VoicesInspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; AND in a landscapeReleased last month. a new ballet, MaddAddamA collaboration between Richter and choreographer Wayne McGregor opens at the Royal Opera House on November 14, with Margaret Atwood as creative consultant.
are you busy Autumn is ahead. tell me about in a landscape First, a very intimate and personal album for you.
It is. It is an album about the polarities that surround us in the world and how we can reconcile them. We live in a time where the biggest challenge is that people with different opinions basically cannot talk to each other. A small request to try to integrate these differences, trying to bring together what we might consider opposites (sounds and composed music, the human world and the natural world) into a useful relationship. .
What extremes do you encounter in your daily life?
Our media consumption is now algorithmically driven and it is very difficult to avoid it. The algorithms are essentially driven by spikes of cortisol and dopamine. You know, more anger, more clicks. And the online space is essentially an advertising space, so this dynamic is everywhere. We all surf this wave mediated by overwhelming emotions.
How can we resist it?
Whether it's taking time off from using systems to disable various apps, leaving your phone at home, or changing your habits, everyone needs to develop their own strategies. It is a great challenge for parents whose children have grown up in this environment around them. You should promote the idea that not all interactions need to be done online.
sleep yours”A personal lullaby for a frenetic world: a statement to the slow pace of existence.”. now it's him The most played classical music album of all time. How does streaming feel to you as an artist?
sleep Next year it will be 10 years and incredibly, we are going to do some more concerts around it, and it is fantastic to be able to do concerts. When it comes to streaming, it is amazing that people can explore the musical universe following their love and passion. When I was a kid, if I wanted to hear a piece of music I didn't know, I had to take a risk: take that bus ride, go to the record library or the store. Now, of course, it's just a click away. But the economics of streaming are more complex. This puts a lot of pressure on artists in terms of livelihood.
You've talked before about beloved musicians. techno, etc. DJ Jeff Mills AND Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead Work in the classical field. Who else should you ask?
Subjohn Stevens Reflections [from 2023]The ballet, written for two pianos and performed by Timo Andrés and Conor Honig, is absolutely beautiful. Once again, he was the most interesting artist of all time. [Caribbean-Belgian jazz musician] Nala Sinefro's new album is also good. He was an artist at our studio a while back, so it was cool to hear a recording he made.
you are also a fan sign and I played future sound London. Are you a secret raver?
I'm a hypocrite! You know, I loved all kinds of music and I started making music. With Chic, there are many things I love about his work. Many of their songs sound like mantras, a type of rhythmic repetition that I associate with systems music. [like the work of Steve Reich and Philip Glass]. It's incredibly well acted and produced.
I also understand your love for Eurovision. Because?
It's a perfect evening of madness, isn't it? You suspend all notions of gender and taste and everything… happens. I really like it. It's multidimensional: you can experience all kinds of national identities through music and ideas about what's cool in different places, which is hilarious.
What is your favorite Eurovision song of all time?
[Abba’s] Waterloo apparently. It is a supreme masterpiece. Lately, staging fascinates me like a man playing a grand piano by the fire. [in the Austrian entry in 2015]And that guy on the giant hamster wheel. [in Ukraine’s 2014 entry, Tick-Tock] It was a little classic.
What was it like working with Margaret Atwood?
She did not intervene because we were working with a text that already existed. [her 2013 novel of the same name]But we had breakfast together and she told us many things about what it would be like. After that, he basically left Wayne and I alone. We exchange ideas all the time, what's up with this? And what about that? Sometimes it lands very quickly, sometimes it takes a while. It's like ping pong.
Does music have a political impact?
It depends on what we understand by politics. Or let me put it this way: I believe music can change our mood and take us away from the everyday world into a different headspace. It also provides evidence of how another person felt – and felt – which is one of the most important things in the social and political sphere. It's really valuable to experience another person's perspective and what feelings there may be behind it.
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MaddAddam Royal Opera House, London WC2, 14-30 November
