Hania Rani: Non Fiction review atmospheric and absorbing storytelling by Polish composer

"Shining occupied the first half, a piece devised for the kind of 12-piece band favoured by Steve Reich and Philip Glass. It's based on a short story by Jon Fosse; a stream of consciousness tale of a man lost in the woods at night. Opening with sinister discords on bass clarinet, bassoon and horn, its motifs shifted and spun. A pall of smoke and half-lit players conjured images of a ghost story told around a campfire at midnight."

"The music frequently ethereal, occasionally sombre and incorporating aleatoric passages channels human resilience in the face of oppression. In her eloquent program note, the composer speaks of its contemporary resonances. On paper it's as absorbing a work as Shining. The soloist Rani herself juggled upright and grand pianos, all the while pitted against a multihued 47-piece orchestra including mournful soprano saxophone,"

Hania Rani's concert presented two 40-minute premieres performed by the Manchester Collective, blending classical, jazz and electronic sensibilities. Shining, for a 12-piece ensemble, is based on Jon Fosse's story of a man lost in the woods; it opens with sinister discords on bass clarinet, bassoon and horn, then unfolds shifting motifs, motoric rhythms and delicate string effects that evoke a ghostly, campfire atmosphere. Non Fiction, a five-years-in-the-making piano concerto, draws on the sketchbooks of Josima Feldschuh from the Warsaw ghetto; its ethereal, sombre and aleatoric passages channel human resilience. Rani performed on upright and grand pianos against a 47-piece orchestra.

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