Coming soon: Modern Classical

Review: The sixth instalment in Anthony Braxton's Trillium cycle pushes the boundaries of the operatic form into new metaphysical and improvisational dimensions. Rooted in Chicago's avant-garde tradition but unfolding via a live recording in Prague and a studio session in Darmstadt, the project spans four actsi'Voyage To The New World', 'Robots Versus Humans', 'The Three Sisters' and 'Four Disasters'ieach one housed in an abstract narrative world that operates on dream logic. Braxton, now 80, spent five years developing this work, his most ambitious opera to date. Alongside Swiss conductor Roland Dahinden and the PMP Ensemble I Orchestraione of Europe's most forward-thinking groupsihe weaves twelve solo voices through dense and shifting compositional systems. The box set includes over six hours of material, from the operatic performances themselves to behind-the-scenes footage and a feature-length documentary. This feels like a culminationian 8-CD monument to Braxton's singular synthesis of AACM-rooted jazz, experimental classical and radical improvisation.