Hania Rani
Barbican, London
 

GIFTED contemporary classical composer and pianist Hania Rani presents her acclaimed album Ghosts, especially reworked for a seven-piece ensemble that is currently touring some of Europe’s most prestigious venues.

The ensemble’s instruments, including saxophone, cello, violin, guitar and trumpet, lend a vibrancy of sounds to the otherworldly ambience of the record — and comes a step closer to realising Rani’s conceptual vision for the work.

One of Poland’s most celebrated musical exports, the 34-year-old is already making a name for herself in the male-dominated world of modern classical music, becoming associated with the likes of Olafur Arnalds, who collaborates on the album’s Whispering House, as well as Nils Frahm and Max Richter.

Ghosts is a shining example of her electro-acoustic flair. The fuzzy ambient techno of 24.03 is given added intensity tonight by the ensemble’s string section while Dancing With Ghosts is complemented by its brass instruments.

Each musician lends their own riffing, giving jazzy tones to the trip-hoppy Hello and cinematic flourishes to A Day In Never, before one final jam out on Always In The Dark.

There’s moments where Rani sings to the void, including Don’t Break My Heart and the evening’s bleak final song Utrata — a thing of beauty.

Much of the music on Ghosts evokes, as the title suggests, that liminal space between life and death. The drifting piano melodies of The Boat, Nostalgia and the 11-minute dreamlike Komeda — a tribute to jazz pianist and Polanski film score composer Krzysztof Komeda — are prime examples.

The performance perhaps lacks a visual accompaniment, although by default the deep wooden backdrop of the Barbican’s main stage naturally gives the effect of the ensemble playing outside a grotto.

We also don’t see much of Rani — busy as she is, playing two pianos on either side and synthesisers at her back. But what we hear is enough.

Hania Rani plays the ICA on April 22, www.ica.art/live/hania-rani-presents-chilling-bambino.